The Chronicle of Takashi Komuro
by Darkpenn
Summary: This consolidates the stories of the Darkpenn story cycle into chapters, commencing at the end of the television series and extending to the final battle with the zombie army.
1. Chapter 1

**Dead and the City**

_Tired of running from the undead, the group decides to hit back. But when zombies are concerned, the best-laid plans …_

_[Author Note: This story begins where the final episode of Season One ends. It begins the story cycle _The Chronicles of Takashi Komuro_.]_

By: Darkpenn

**Z+8**

" … pain in the ass!" said Takashi, hefting the shotgun onto his shoulder. He looked around. Rei, next to him, was … smiling. She lifted her gun as well.

"Lock and load," said Hirano, climbing onto the Humvee roof and taking up his usual firing position. "Pain in the ass … my ass! Alice, keep the clips coming, please, in case there's another wave of them."

"Will do!" said Alice, diving towards the ammunition bag in the back of the Humvee.

"Humph," said Saya. "There's only a dozen or so." She pulled the Luger her mother had given her out of its holster and climbed up next to Hirano. "Hirano, take the three on the right, and the two in those trees. Takashi, the three on the left, and watch out for that big one. Rei, covering fire and watch our rear. Miss Marikawa, keep the engine running. Saeko – "

Saeko was already moving towards the group in the centre, drawing her sword. She took out one of the zombies on the run, slicing it at the neck, and smashed another with a looping kick. It fell to the ground but reached out and grabbed her ankle. She cut its arm off in a single stroke. She turned to face another, but then its head exploded: from Rei.

"Probably not necessary, I know," shouted Rei to her, "but better to be safe than bit."

Takashi's shotgun blasted three times, and Hirano's automatic rifle took out the ones on his side. Saeko continued to slash and stab.

Then suddenly all was quiet. Saeko shook the dismembered arm from her ankle. Then she calmly checked the other zombies lying on the ground, decapitating several with her sword. Just to be sure.

"Easy peasy Japanesey," said Saya.

Hirano looked up. Then he froze, realising that he was looking straight up Saya's skirt. The man who had just shot five zombies went red with embarrassment. "Uh, Takagi … " he said.

"Don't call me that!" said Saya, looking down at him. "And why have you turned that colour? Oh, I see."

"So … so do I," stammered Hirano. His glasses turned opaque.

Saya giggled, and then put on her stern face. "Humph," she said again, and then jumped down. "We should keep going, the noise will attract others."

There was already movement at the end of the street. The group got into the Humvee and Miss Marikawa turned the vehicle away from the advancing zombies. They drove on.

* * *

><p>"Where am I going?" said Miss Marikawa.<p>

"We should get out of the EMP area as fast as possible," said Saya.

"First, we need supplies, food, water, petrol and bullets," said Hirano.

"There might still be other survivors," said Rei. "Our priority should be to try and contact them."

"I don't like the sound of the engine," said Miss Marikawa. "The mechanic at Saya's house said he didn't have time to completely repair it."

"Do you know how to fix it if it breaks down?" said Rei.

"Of course not," said Miss Marikawa. "I never even opened the hood on my little Mazda."

"Saya, could you?" said Rei.

"Why on earth should I be able to fix it?" said Saya.

"Because you're a genius," said Rei.

"Not at fixing engines," snapped Saya. "My family has mechanics and drivers for that. Had."

"Any chance of finding another vehicle?" said Hirano.

"Not in the EMP area," said Saya. "They'll all be fried."

"Still don't know where I'm going," said Miss Marikawa.

"There is another matter," said Saeko softly. "We need a leader. One of us has to make decisions and the rest agree to follow."

Everyone looked at her. They knew she was right. They all knew that they had no plan and no direction. They were simply driving along in a vehicle that would soon break down, trying to stay alive. Sure, they could beat a dozen or so zombies, but there were many more of them in the city, and they were all hungry.

"I vote Takashi!" squealed Alice.

"I agree," said Saeko.

"Me?" said Takashi. "Why me! I can't do anything like that! I don't know how to be a leader! I wasn't even class captain in school!"

"Which now counts for absolutely nothing," said Rei.

"What about Saeko?" said Takashi. "She's the best fighter."

"No," said Saeko. "The sharpest blade does not always make the wisest general."

"Then Saya!" said Takashi. "She's the smartest, and she really took control back there."

"Yes, I am the smartest," said Saya. "But the only time I tried to lead anything … well, it didn't work out. And it was just a volleyball team. People just don't like to follow me, I guess. I vote for you, Takashi."

"Takashi it is," said Hirano.

"Then where to?" said Miss Marikawa.

Takashi suddenly felt overwhelmed. "Um … er, all your ideas are good – " he stammered.

"What's that up ahead?" said Miss Marikawa, pointing to a plume of smoke rising up in front of them. As they crested a hill, they saw it: two buses blocked most of the street. One was burned out but still smoking. The other seemed to be slowly moving. With a shock, the group realised that it was being pushed by a gang of zombies. In a few moments, they would have it in a position that would completely block the road.

"Can they do that?" said Saya in surprise. "They're brain-dead … aren't they?"

"Apparently not," said Saeko.

"Miss Marikawa, stop and turn around," said Takashi. "We'll find another way past."

Miss Marikawa put her foot on the brake. Nothing happened. She tried the handbrake. Nothing. The engine began to groan, and then scream. "Uh-oh," she said.

There was still a space between the two buses. Zombies were climbing onto the roofs.

"Go for the gap!" said Takashi. "Saeko, get on top and take any of them that try and jump on! Hirano, stop any that try and grab us as we pass! Everyone else, strap in if you can! Rei, hold on to Alice!"

"Not much room," said Miss Marikawa.

"Not much choice," said Takashi.

Miss Marikawa put her foot down. Smoke started to come from under the hood. Now they were plummeting down the hill, Miss Marikawa struggling to keep control.

Fifty metres.

Twenty.

Ten.

"Fuck!" shouted Miss Marikawa.

They smashed through, pushing the buses aside. The Humvee swayed on its wheels, tottering, almost out of control. Miss Marikawa fought the wheel. There was a thump on the roof, and then another. One zombie vanished under the vehicle, but a second managed to climb onto the hood. It punched through the windscreen and reached for Miss Marikawa, grabbing one of her breasts. She screamed.

Hirano rushed forward and rammed the barrel of his gun into the zombie's head, and fired. There was an explosion of black blood over the remainder of the windscreen. At the same time, a headless zombie fell off the roof, and then another one: Saeko's work.

The Humvee careened along the road, swerving from side to side as Miss Marikawa tried to see where she was going. The smoking engine finally burst into flames, and their speed dropped. The vehicle glanced off a streetlight pole, and then ran headfirst into another, coming to a grinding halt. Takashi saw, for a moment, Saeko flying through the air as she was flung from the Humvee roof.

"Everyone still alive?" called Takashi. There was a series of groans, but everyone was, indeed, still alive. They managed to clamber out, Rei lifting Alice to the ground. She was still carrying her smiley-face backpack and she held Zeke inside her jacket.

"Sorry about that," said Miss Marikawa, looking at the wreck of the Humvee.

"No need to apologise," said Rei. "It was great driving, under the circumstances."

"Company on the way," said Hirano, pointing at the gang of zombies moving towards them. He hefted his guns and his bag of ammunition.

Saeko limped up to them, still holding her sword. She was bleeding from a deep gash on her leg, the result of being thrown against a fire hydrant. Her kendo-based agility had saved her from anything worse but she was clearly hurt.

Petrol was leaking from the Humvee and spreading across the road. There was no time to salvage anything more from the wreck. Miss Marikawa had her medical kit, and she quickly applied an emergency bandage and tourniquet to Saeko's injury. "There," said Miss Marikawa, "that should stop the bleeding for the moment but it won't last long."

"Let's go," said Takashi. "This way."

"Just a moment," said Saeko. She hobbled over to the pool of petrol and unsheathed her sword. She scraped the blade over the concrete, creating a shower of sparks. The petrol burst into flame, creating a barrier between the zombies and the survivor group. Several of the zombies simply walked into it, catching fire before falling to the ground.

"Holy crap!" said Hirano. "They go up like paper!"

Takashi led them along the road, looking for a place of refuge. Miss Marikawa and Hirano helped Saeko as best they could. Night was starting to fall. In the darkness, they would be vulnerable.

Finally, Takashi stopped.

"Here," he said, looking up.

They were standing in front of a shopping mall. The glass doors were shattered.

"Alice," said Takashi. "Give me Zeke."

Rather reluctantly, Alice handed the little dog to Takashi. Takashi scratched its ears and then walked up to the doors. He put Zeke on the ground. The pup had a sniff around but didn't start barking, as it usually did when there were zombies close.

"I think we can go in," said Takashi to the others. "But be ready for trouble, just in case Zeke didn't get the idea."

They moved slowly. The place was a mess but seemed to be empty. There was a central area in the mall, with heavy security doors on both sides and a staircase with a sturdy door that could be locked. There was light from the atrium roof. It was as safe as anywhere.

The pressure off, they sagged down onto the seats in the court.

After a while, Alice got up and looked at the map of the mall. She squealed with delight. "There's a bookstore, Uncle Kohta!" she said. "Will you please buy me a Spongebob Squarepants book?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," said Hirano, looking at the map. "There's a sporting equipment store here. They might have shells. I could use some more."

"Get on it," said Takashi. "See what sort of maps you can find as well, we might have to walk for a while. And, uh, take Alice to the bookstore, okay?"

"We'll need lights," said Rei.

"I have some candles in my pack," said Alice. "And some matches too."

Miss Marikawa put up her hand. "I need to clean and stitch Saeko's leg. If there's a pharmacy around here, I should get some anti-biotics for her," she said.

"Do that, and I'll stay here with Saeko, keep an eye out for trouble," he said. He handed Miss Marikawa his revolver. She took it, although she seemed unclear about what to do with it. "Rei and Saya, see if you can find some sort of market, collect as much food and water as you can. Back here in fifteen minutes, all of you."

As everyone went off to their tasks, Takashi sat down beside Saeko. He heaved a sigh of near-exhaustion.

"Not bad for someone who said they didn't know how to be a leader," said Saeko.

"I … really, I don't … I'm not sure why they would pick me. I don't have any sense of responsibility. I've always dealt with problems by running away from them. On my own."

Saeko smiled. "You know the good thing about Armageddon?" she said. "It means a chance to start again. I would say that you've made a good start."

Takashi shrugged. "We can't stay here for long," he said. "And on foot … well, there's an awful lot of them. And it will be a while before you're able to walk properly. And I'm worried about the way those zombies used that bus as a roadblock. Maybe they're getting smarter. One way or another, eventually we'll need to find somewhere safe. And we need to find a way to get there."

"You think that might help?" said Saeko. She pointed to a sign. It said: MALL SHUTTLE BUS, LEAVES EVERY HOUR. BASEMENT CAR PARK.

* * *

><p><strong>PART II<strong>

Their meal was noodles and canned food cooked over a camp stove and lit by candles.

"There's something that we might be able to use," said Takashi. "A mini-bus in the basement, the type that's built to carry about twenty people. I guess the mall operators used it to collect customers from the local area, that sort of thing. I've tried to start it but it doesn't work. The electrical circuits are fried. Hirano, Saya, if you fiddle around with it do you think you could get it working, maybe replace the broken parts?"

Hirano and Saya looked at each other and then at Takashi. "I doubt it," said Hirano.

"No," said Saya.

"Get a book," put in Alice.

"What?" said Saya.

"A book," repeated Alice. "I went to the bookstore and they have plenty of books there. On cars. There was a big poster about a book on repairing cars."

"Good thinking, Alice," said Hirano.

* * *

><p>They took turns keeping watch through the night. They had sleeping bags, and were gathered in the forecourt, around a single candle.<p>

Hirano and Saya had finished their watch, to be replaced by Rei and Saeko. Hirano settled into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes. He was dozing off when someone started shaking him.

It was Saya. "Hirano!" she whispered.

"Is it trouble?" he whispered back, reaching for his gun.

"No," she whispered. "Well, there's the whole end-of-the-world zombie thing, of course. But no, no trouble."

"Then what do you want?"

"Move over. I want to get in."

"Uh, why? Don't you have your own?"

In the darkness, he could feel her staring at him.

"Hirano, are you stupid?"

"You keep telling me that I am."

"Well, maybe I was … uh, just move over, can't you?"

"Why are we whispering?"

"Because I don't want the others to hear."

"Hear what? And why not?"

She made a 'grrr' sound.

He moved over. She slid in beside him. With a shock, he realised that she was fairly close to naked.

"Do you know what to do?" she whispered.

"N … no," he whispered.

"Why aren't I surprised. Fortunately, I know. You're lucky I'm a genius."

"So you keep telling me."

Rei, on watch at the security door, saw the movement in the shadows.

"Well, well," she said to herself. "How about that."

* * *

><p>It was the next day, and no sign of zombies – yet. Saya and Hirano were in the basement garage. They had several car repair books and manuals spread out in front of them. They had found a locker of undamaged parts, and they had already managed to remove several fried components from the bus engine.<p>

"So, let's see, this is the magneto – " said Hirano.

Suddenly, Saya leaned over and kissed him. Their glasses clicked together. Hirano blushed.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?" he said.

"Moron," she said. Then she kissed him again. "You know," she said, "this bus has some nice soft seats … "

* * *

><p>"I think we can do it," said Hirano, wiping his oily hands on a rag. He and Saya were speaking to the group. "Another couple of hours, I think. Does that sound about right to you, Saya?"<p>

Saya looked as if she had been dreaming. "What?" she said. "Oh, yeah, of course, whatever you say, Kohta."

They all looked at her.

"Uh-huh," said Miss Marikawa.

"Uh-huh," said Rei.

Saeko smiled her inscrutable smile.

"What?" said Takashi. "Is there something going on?"

"Uh – " said Hirano.

"No," said Saya.

Takashi looked dubious. "Anyway," he said. "We have to start thinking about the future. We can't just hide and run forever. But I don't know if we'll be able to get out of the city, there are simply too many of them. I think we have to try and even up the numbers."

"You mean, take out a lot at once?" said Rei.

"Yes," said Takashi. "It's a big risk, bringing them together, but I think it's our only chance."

He unfolded a map of the city, and proceeded to outline his plan.

They were all silent for a while, considering the odds and the options.

"I'm sick of running away from these putrid things," said Rei eventually. "Let's go for it."

"Rock-and-roll!" said Hirano.

"I agree," said Saeko. "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war."

* * *

><p>Everyone crossed their fingers as Miss Marikawa turned the ignition key. The engine spluttered and stuttered but eventually rumbled into life. Hirano breathed a visible sigh of relief.<p>

They began to load the equipment they had collected and salvaged from the mall into the bus.

It was a large park, laid out in a spoke-and-hub pattern of paths leading to a low, classical-style fountain in the middle. They were studying it from the roof of a nearby building.

"I don't like having to look in so many directions," said Hirano. "But I guess if we want them to come from everywhere there isn't much choice."

"We'll have to hold the first waves until we get all of them into the open," said Takashi. "You, me, Saeko and Rei."

"I'm not as fast as I was, with this wound," said Saeko. "But I can do what you want."

"We'll hold," said Rei.

* * *

><p>Miss Marikawa, Saya and Alice found that the pump at the petrol station was electrical, and was fried. But they located a manual pump, which they used to fill as many barrels as the bus could carry.<p>

* * *

><p>They were standing at the fountain. Takashi looked at the old-fashioned, non-electrical watch he had taken from the mall store. He turned to Hirano, Saeko and Rei.<p>

"It's time," he said.

"Uh, you think she'll be alright?" said Hirano. "Saya, I mean. She … she is very important to me."

"You'll be back in each other's arms within the hour," said Rei.

"Wh … what!" spluttered Hirano. "You … you know!"

"Saya is walking around with a dazed expression and a big smile," said Rei. "So yes, we know."

"I didn't," said Takashi.

"Men never do," said Saeko.

"Well … congratulations, Hirano!" said Takashi. He pumped Hirano's hand. Rei and Saeko glanced at each other, and both rolled their eyes.

"Let's not forget that we are about to be engaged in a battle that is likely to see us all dead quite soon," said Saeko. She pointed to the edge of the park, where zombies had already started to lumber towards them.

Takashi nodded. "Hit it," he said.

Sitting on the low wall of the fountain was the fire alarm they had taken from the mall, connected to a set of batteries as a power source. Rei took a deep breath, and then flipped the switch.

With an ear-splitting noise, the bell began to clang. All over the city, zombies turned towards the sound.

* * *

><p>"There it goes," said Saya, in the bus with Alice and Miss Marikawa, in a side-street not far away. "Now, dead quiet and keep the doors closed, and if we're lucky they'll walk right past us."<p>

"And if we're not lucky?" said Miss Marikawa.

* * *

><p>Hirano and Rei began firing as soon as the first ranks of zombies were in range. They fell, but others replaced them. They were advancing, attracted by the noise, faster than Hirano and Rei could shoot them.<p>

Takashi glanced at Saeko, next to him. In a few moments, the zombies would be in range of Takashi's shotgun. Then it would be Saeko's sword.

Saeko bowed her head slightly, and her dark hair fell gently across her face.

"Saeko," said Takashi. "I think that my heart will eventually belong to Rei. But I have to say that you are truly beautiful."

She smiled. "I know," she said.

"Uh, which part?"

"I believe," said Saeko, "that it is time for us to fight."

"Oh, right, zombies, yeah," he said. He aimed his gun and began to fire.

Saeko unsheathed her sword and threw the scabbard aside. She stared at the advancing throng. Then she struck the blade into the ground. She stripped off her shirt, revealing her lace purple bra. She ripped her skirt along the seam, showing her leg to the hip.

"What's that for?" said Rei between shots.

"If I'm going to leave this life, I'm going to do it on my own terms," replied Saeko. "No holding back." She picked up her sword and turned towards the zombies. "Come and get it, motherfuckers," she said.

* * *

><p>Long lines of zombies had passed the bus, heading towards the park, but now there were only a few.<p>

Saya, Alice and Miss Marikawa let out their breath. Miss Marikawa looked at the dashboard clock. "Let's go," she said.

She started the bus and gunned the engine. A few zombies turned towards the bus. Miss Marikawa swerved and ran them over. Then they were speeding towards the park.

There was a road going around the perimeter of the park. Miss Marikawa took it, and opened the door. Saya took the lid off the first barrel and tilted it, so that petrol gushed out and onto the road. When that was empty she pushed it out and rolled up the second.

When they had gone completely around the park, leaving a trail of petrol behind them, they turned inwards, criss-crossing the paths and the grass. Whichever way they turned, there were zombies.

"So many," muttered Miss Marikawa. "Hundreds. Thousands."

* * *

><p>"Did you ever hear the legend of the 300 Spartans?" said Hirano, ramming in another magazine. "They held back the entire Persian army."<p>

"Didn't they all die?" said Rei.

"Yes, but as last stands go it was a classic," said Hirano.

The lead zombies were now only ten metres away, and there were many, many more behind them. The alarm has fallen silent but now the zombies were close enough to sense their prey.

As he re-loaded, Takashi could not resist a glance at Saeko. Even injured, she was cutting a bloody swathe through the ranks, a near-naked angel of deadly grace.

"That's it," said Hirano. "Out of bullets." He picked up the baseball bat he had taken from the mall sports store.

"Me too," said Rei. She checked the bayonet on her rifle.

"And these are my last," said Takashi. He fired his final shots, and then turned the gun to use it as a club. "So now it's hand-to-hand."

"Bring it," said Rei.

* * *

><p>"That's all of it!" said Saya, as the last barrel, empty, tumbled out of the bus.<p>

Miss Marikawa brought the bus to a stop, a little way from the petrol-soaked road. She and Saya jumped out. Several zombies started to come towards them. Saya drew her Luger.

"Throw the flare!" she said to Miss Marikawa.

Miss Marikawa had two signal flares from the sporting goods store. She broke the top from one; it began to spark, and then developed a red flame. She threw it, and it landed on the road. But the flame did not ignite the petrol.

The zombies were close now. Saya knew that she was not a good shot, but she held the gun with both hands and aimed carefully. One went down, and then another, and then another.

Miss Marikawa broke the other flare, which burned blue. "This one has got to work," she muttered. "Please please please!" She threw it, and it landed on the petrol-soaked grass. It spluttered, flamed, burned … and then went out.

Saya fired and fired. Miss Marikawa drew the revolver from her pocket and shot a zombie that was only a metre away. They could see their friends in the centre of the park, fighting for their lives.

"We have to do … _something!_" said Saya.

"I have matches," said Alice, from the step of the bus. "Here, in my pack. For the candles."

"Matches!" cried Saya. "Alice, you have to get to the petrol, just over there, and light it."

"I'm not supposed to play with fire," said Alice. "Daddy told me."

"Just do it!" shouted Saya, as she brought down another zombie.

Alice started to cry.

"Saya, you're not helping!" said Miss Marikawa. She shot another zombie at point-blank range. "Alice, I'm sure your daddy wouldn't mind this time. You must be a brave girl. And it would really help your Uncle Kohta and Rei and the others."

Alice wiped her tears away. "Alright," she said.

Saya pushed another clip into the pistol. "This is my last one," she said. "After that … "

Alice ran to the stain of petrol and, kneeling, pulled off her backpack. She found the matches. She tried to strike one, but it broke. So did the second. The third …

* * *

><p>Saeko, Takashi, Rei and Hirano were fighting back-to-back now, surrounded. Even Saeko was near exhaustion, her injured leg draining energy from her.<p>

"I'm sorry I got you into this," said Takashi. "Guess we should have simply run, after all."

"No," said Saeko.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," said Hirano.

"And if we have to go down, I'm glad that we go down together, Takashi," said Rei.

Then, over the moaning of the undead, came another sound: a dull roar, growing louder, like an approaching storm.

A sheet of blue flame came sweeping across the park, consuming zombies as it went.

And now it was going to consume them, as well.

"The fountain!" shouted Takashi. "Get under the water and stay there for as long as you can!"

They turned and dived.

The water was only a metre deep but it offered some protection. Looking up at the surface, Takashi saw it turn red, then black, and then slowly return to the colour of the sky. When he could hold his breath no longer, he surfaced. The others came up at the same time.

The fire had passed, leaving just traces of smoke. There were no zombies to be seen, just charred bodies and piles of ash. The four of them, with Saeko still holding her sword, climbed out of the fountain.

The bus came bumping across the blackened grass towards them, stopping a few meters away. Saya jumped out and ran to Hirano. She leaped into his arms and kissed him passionately. "Kohta!" she gasped. "I was so frightened! I thought I was going to lose you, after just finding you!"

Then she realised that everyone was watching. She turned crimson.

"It's alright," said Hirano. "They know."

"Oh," said Saya. "Well, in that case – " She kissed him again, even more passionately.

"Nick of time," said Takashi to Miss Marikawa.

"It was Alice who saved the day," said Miss Marikawa.

"Yes, it was me," said Alice, beaming.

"Outstanding work, Alice," said Saeko. "You are a true hero."

"So what's next?" said Rei to Takashi, as they drove slowly through the empty streets.

"Next?" said Takashi. "I suppose that next we look for a place to build a home. Try and find out what's left of the world, and see what we can make of it. We'll just have to do our best. Stay together, care for each other."

"That," said Saeko, "sounds like a future worth living for."

END

NEXT STORY IN SERIES:_ DEAD AND THE BETTER ZOMBIE_


	2. Chapter 2

**Dead and the Better Zombie**

_The undead are becoming more dangerous, which means very bad news for Takashi and his friends. _

_[Author Note: This story follows the story _Dead and the City_, which in turn begins where the final episode of Season One ends.]_

By: Darkpenn

**Z+13**

Saeko and Saya had filled their packs with bottled water, canned goods and gas cylinders – enough supplies for a few days, at least – and were starting on their way back to the hotel that the group had moved into. They all knew that it was not going to be their permanent home, but for the moment it offered a place to rest and the chance to re-group, re-supply, and consider their options.

It was several days since the battle at the park, where they had destroyed thousands of the undead. But they were not taking any chances. There might be some zombies that had escaped the carnage, or perhaps some had wandered over from across the river.

"I need to get something else," said Saya.

"We have everything that was on the list," replied Saeko.

"This isn't on the list," said Saya. "This is … personal. I have to go to a pharmacy. I can go by myself. I would prefer to, really."

"We should stay together," said Saeko. "What is it you need?"

"It's, uh, well … okay, it's condoms, alright? There, I've said it."

Saeko gave a little smile, which is about as much humour as she ever showed. "I did notice that you and Hirano are sharing a room," she said.

"Well, I got a few from Miss Marikawa, but now I – we – need some more."

"How many is 'a few'?"

"Ten. Quite a lot, really, for just a couple of days." Saya giggled. "It's really good," she said. "It took him a while to get the hang of it but now … really good."

Saeko smiled again.

So they went to a pharmacy they had passed previously. Saya was loading boxes of condoms into her pack when they heard a noise – a scraping, metallic noise. And then the sound of shuffling, dragging footsteps.

Saeko touched a finger to her lips: without knowing how many zombies there were, silence was their best strategy. Without a sound, she pulled her sword, still sheathed, from her belt. Saya, equally silently, drew her Luger from her shoulder holster and eased the safety off.

There were three zombies, two women and a man. The man – or the creature that once been a man – was dragging an iron bar, which was making the noise. The three of them appeared at the end of the aisle; Saeko and Saya were at the far end, ten metres away. They held their breath.

The zombies continued to shuffle past. Then one of them stopped. She turned her head towards Saeko and Saya. She … _looked at them!_

_Fuck! _thought Saeko. _They can see us!_

The zombie growled. Then all three started to come down the aisle. And not just in the usual shambling zombie gait; they were almost running.

Saeko drew her sword and ran forward. She took out the first one, one of the women, in a single decapitating blow. She stabbed out at the second, her sword piercing the zombie's chest.

The zombie howled in something that might have been pain. Then she grasped the blade and pulled it, drawing Saeko closer towards her. With her other hand, she reached out.

Saeko slashed upwards. The zombie's fingers fell away, and the blade continued its course until the body fell almost in two.

One left, the man. Saeko swung her sword … and the zombie lifted the iron bar to block it.

_Fuck!_ she thought again._ They're getting fast._

There was a single shot, and the zombie fell back, a Luger bullet in its head.

Saeko looked at the body. Its eyes were still open. They were not the blind, empty eyes that she had seen before. Now, there were pupils. Cloudy, but there. She checked the other two. The same.

Saya came running up.

"Thank you," said Saeko.

"What the hell was that?" gasped Saya.

* * *

><p>"How long has it been?" said Rei. She and Takashi were in the hotel garage, working to replace the fried parts of a motorbike. They had found a helpful book in a nearby store: <em>Bike Repair for Dummies<em>.

"Uh, let me think, it's, uh, thirteen days," said Takashi. "Which would make today the eighteenth of the month."

"Thirteen days," mused Rei. "Feels like much longer. The eighteenth. Do you realise that if we were still in school we would be having a geometry exam today?"

"I'm glad I missed it, I'm terrible at geometry," said Takashi. "Let's try this thing."

He turned the key, and the bike stuttered into life. He gunned the engine to full power, and then, satisfied, turned it off.

"We can use this for scouting, easier than the bus and faster than foot," he said. "We can weld a rack onto the back of the bus and carry it that way. Did you see the hole that Hirano cut into the roof, with a hatch that can be closed? There's a ladder so we can climb up, and a stand for his favourite big gun. And he put some extra bars on the front, as well. He's turning into a very useful guy."

"I sometimes think that Hirano is enjoying himself, through all this," said Rei. "Especially sharing a bed with Saya. Who would have imagined that, a fortnight ago?"

There was a knock at the security door. Two groups of three knocks: Saeko and Saya, back from their supply run. Rei unbolted the door and let them in.

"We have a problem," said Saeko.

* * *

><p>"This links up, I think, with what we saw at the barricade," said Takashi, as the group considered Saeko's and Saya's news. They were sitting on the hotel patio balcony, on the second floor, overlooking the city. "They're … well, I suppose the word is 'evolving'."<p>

"Getting smarter, faster, and tougher," said Saeko.

"Judging from their eyes, I would say that their vision is probably sort of fuzzy," said Saya. "But it might get better. We should assume so, since at the start of the Outbreak they seemed completely blind."

"You know, I had always hoped that their bodies would just sort of rot away," said Miss Marikawa. "They're dead, after all."

"The implication of this," said Saya, "is that we can't just wait them out. Our big advantage so far has been that they were slow and stupid. In small groups, we could out-fight them. If they keep getting stronger, pretty soon that might not be the case."

"I just want things to go back to normal!" wailed Miss Marikawa.

"This is normal now," said Rei. "There's no going back."

Miss Marikawa began to cry, in a series of heart-wrenching sobs. The others could do nothing but watch. She was, after all, crying for all of them.

Then Saeko said: "Shut up."

"Let her cry," said Takashi. "There's a lot to cry for."

"Shut up because I hear something," said Saeko.

Miss Marikawa stopped her sobbing.

"I can hear … something … too," said Hirano. "Is it … gunfire?"

It was: sporadic shooting, coming from the direction of the river. They rushed to the balcony rail. Hirano pulled a sniper-scope from his pocket. Alice ran off, and then came back with a pair of binoculars, which she handed to Takashi.

"There!" said Hirano. "On the river, at the bridge!"

"Got it," said Takashi. "A boat."

"Survivors," said Rei softly. "So we aren't the only ones."

"They're in a heap of trouble, by the look of things," said Takashi.

"Let's go," said Saeko.

* * *

><p>The boat was a cruiser, the sort meant to take tourists on scenic trips along a river. Now it was wedged between the bank and one of the bridge's concrete support pillars, pushed there by the current. There were zombies trying to climb onto the boat from the bank, and others were coming down from the bridge. There were two people with rifles on the deck, shooting as fast as they could. But it was not going to be fast enough. And they looked like they were running out of ammunition.<p>

Miss Marikawa drove the bus along the road that ran to the bridge, Takashi on the bike in the lead, with Saeko perched on the back. They were two hundred metres from the boat when the road was blocked by abandoned cars. The bike could squeeze through, but not the bus. Miss Marikawa brought the vehicle to a halt.

Takashi pulled up alongside. "Miss Marikawa, you and Alice stay with the bus," he said. "We can't afford to risk it. Keep watch along the road in case any of them try and get behind us, and start shooting if you need to."

She nodded. She held up the pump-action shotgun that Hirano had found for her.

Rei, Saya and Hirano got out.

"You'd better go, and we'll get there as fast as we can," said Rei to Takashi and Saeko. They were all armed, courtesy of an abandoned police station.

There was a grassy strip that ran alongside the river. Takashi turned onto it. As they neared the horde of zombies, Saeko drew her sword.

"Straight on, and faster," she said.

One zombie down, two, three, four, and suddenly they were in a crowd of them. The zombies realised the danger and turned. Then Saeko was off the bike and slashing her way through.

Takashi drew his Mauser automatic pistol but suddenly realised there were no targets left. "Guess her leg got better," he said to himself.

The boat was only ten metres away. Saeko dispatched the last zombie, and she and Takashi ran over.

"Good afternoon," said Takashi to the two astonished people on the deck.

"Who the fuck are you?" said one of them, a young woman.

"Not zombies, and at the moment that's all you need to know," said Takashi.

The two people cast dubious looks at each other.

"Perhaps this is not the time for formal introductions," said Saeko. She pointed to more zombies coming along the bank, and to those climbing down from the bridge. Then a shot rang out and the head of the closest zombie exploded.

"That'll be Hirano," said Takashi. He looked back, and saw Hirano and the others approaching on foot, Hirano's sniper rifle still smoking.

Rei ran up. "Good afternoon," she said to the two people on the deck. "Come with us if you want to live. You know, I've always wanted to say that."

"There's, uh, more of us," said the woman. "On the lower deck."

"How many?" said Takashi.

"Twelve, all up."

"Then it's a good thing we have a bus. Gather everyone together and let's go. Hirano, give us some covering fire."

Hirano switched his gun to automatic mode and let loose a burst at the zombies climbing from the bridge. Two were hit and fell. Amazingly, the rest retreated and took cover behind the concrete wall of the bridge.

Hirano grunted. "Never seen them do that before," he said.

The team began to help the others off the boat.

* * *

><p>They were back at the hotel. The new arrivals were in bad shape: hungry, dehydrated and exhausted. There were three families: five adults, three older people and four children. They had been living on dry biscuits and river water for days, so they were grateful for the hot food and tea that Miss Marikawa provided. And they were grateful for the soft hotel beds and clean sheets.<p>

The two people who had been on deck were Aki and her younger brother Tsuga. Aki was in charge of the group.

Takashi and the others were on the balcony when Aki entered. Her hair was damp and she had fresh clothes from Miss Marikawa.

"I was starting to think that I'd never be clean again," she said. "Where does the water come from?"

"There's a tank on the roof," said Takashi. "The filter isn't operating so you can't drink it, but it's good enough for a shower."

"How come everything electrical has stopped working?" she asked.

"There was an electro-magnetic pulse from a nuclear explosion," said Saya. "We don't know the back story but the bottom line is that every chip and circuit in the area got fried. We've managed to repair some vehicles but everything else – lights, phones, computers, automatic doors – is useless. Even elevators, which is why we're not on a higher floor of this place. We don't know how large the affected area is but it must be pretty big."

"Well, that explains why the boat engine stopped," said Aki. "We come from a town upriver, near the mountains, and when the outbreak happened we got onto the boat because we thought it would be the safest place. We thought we could maybe get to the coast, find some help. We went ashore a couple of times, got some food and fuel but lost some people. Then the engine went out and after that we were just drifting. Until today. Thanks for the rescue, by the way." She looked at them. "You are a strange bunch," she said.

For the first time in a long while, Takashi looked at his group of friends. Yes, he thought, we are a strange bunch. A samurai, a gun otaku, a kid, a genius, a princess, and a bubblehead whose bra size is bigger than her IQ – but who can drive and fight like hell when she has to. And me, struggling to hold myself and everyone else together.

"We get by," he said.

"You're all so young," said Aki.

"Quite a lot older than we were two weeks ago," said Rei.

"How many zombies have you seen?" said Saya.

"For a long time, along the river, we didn't see any," said Aki. "Then, a few days ago, we started seeing more of them, and they started walking along the river bank. A couple of them jumped off a bridge onto the boat. It's almost as if … well, it's almost like they were watching us. Hunting us."

"Hmm," said Saeko.

"We think they're getting smarter," said Rei. "There are some signs that they are learning to work together."

"We've killed quite a few," said Aki. "Maybe thirty."

Hirano and Saeko glanced at each other. Hirano grinned.

"Well, how many have you killed?" said Aki to them.

"627," said Saeko.

"593," said Hirano. "Not counting the ones at the park, of course."

"Of course," said Saeko. "That was a group effort."

"What about the park?" said Aki.

Briefly, Takashi recounted the battle, and explained why it meant that there were only a few hundred zombies in the city, rather than thousands.

Aki looked astonished. "Wow," she said. "I had no idea that you were so … pro-active."

"Yeah, but in the end it's only a holding action," said Takashi. "We think that eventually we'll have to get out of the city. But to where, that's another question. Hard to know where would be safe. We've seen zombies push down iron gates and get through army barricades."

"And some of the human survivors we came across, well, if people are desperate enough they can be almost as bad as the zombies," said Rei. "You have to be careful who you link up with. Maybe staying in small, mobile groups is a better idea."

"There is also the question of supplies," said Hirano. "Eventually, all the bottled water and canned food and petrol will be used up. And the bullets, too. Even if we get out of the EMP area, there's no guarantee that things will be much better."

"As you see, Aki, we have talked about future options quite a lot," said Takashi. "But not yet come to a conclusion."

"And now there is the problem of better zombies," put in Saeko.

"Aki, what do you think your group will want to do?" asked Rei. "Stay with us, or continue on your boat? We might be able to fix it for you."

"I'll have to discuss it with everyone, but I think that we will probably want to continue to the coast. My people aren't really designed for combat."

Takashi looked at Hirano and Saya. Hirano sighed. "Yeah, I know," he said. "I'll find a book on boat engines."

* * *

><p>The next day Hirano and Saya took the motorbike to the boat to check the damage: Saya driving with Hirano on the back, holding on for dear life. They were surprised to find that there were no zombies about.<p>

"I guess when they realised there was nothing to eat they moved on," said Hirano.

"Maybe," said Saya. "But somehow I doubt it."

They inspected the boat. As far as they could tell, the only thing wrong with it was the electrical system that controlled the engine and rudder. They decided they could replace the damaged parts; it would probably not be more difficult than repairing the bus. They ensured that the boat was securely tied up so it would not be carried away by the current and started back to the hotel.

They were halfway there when they encountered four zombies. They were standing in a dark alley. Saya stopped the bike and took out her Luger. Hirano hefted his gun. There was no doubt that the zombies could see them. They waited for the attack.

But it didn't come. One of the zombies growled and hissed at them. Then all four began to shuffle further back into the shadows.

"I think … I think they're scared of us," said Hirano. "They're retreating, like the ones on the bridge."

Saya turned on the bike's light and they went down the alley – slowly. They saw the zombies shuffle through a doorway.

"Let's go after them," said Hirano, getting off the bike.

"No," said Saya. "It's a trap." She picked up a piece of rubble and threw it through the doorway, along the ground. Immediately, on the other side of the entrance, a huge chunk of plaster crashed down.

"Son of a bitch!" cried Hirano. "How did you know?"

"I am, as you will recall, a genius," she said. "Come on, let's get back."

* * *

><p>"Hmm," said Takashi, after Saya and Hirano had finished their story. "I think we should advance our plans to get out of the city. Once Aki and her people are on their way, we should leave too. How is our supply situation?"<p>

"We have as much as we can carry," said Rei. "We'll start taking supplies to the boat tomorrow, and when that's done we'll pack the bus with our own stuff. Which way will we be going?"

"The EMP blast was north-west of here, so I believe we should go south-east," said Takashi. "That direction will take us away from the EMP area. If we can get past the border, maybe we can find a working radio and see if there are any other groups of survivors. We should aim for the Tomo area. It's fairly rural, according to the maps, so maybe there won't be too many zombies there."

"Tomo!" cried Alice. "My grandpa and grandma have a farm there! I was there for holidays last year! They grow apples and potatoes, and they have goats and a cow."

Takashi looked at her. "Do you think you could find your way there again?" he said.

"I … I suppose so," she said, a bit taken aback.

"Then that's our destination," he said. "One more thing. If someone works on the boat engine, there must be someone else standing guard. Okay?"

"After what we saw today, damn right okay," said Saya.

* * *

><p>Saya and Hirano were lying in bed together.<p>

"Kohta," she said. "Do you ever cry about the past?"

"No," said Hirano.

"Me neither," she said. "But I was very moved when Miss Marikawa was crying yesterday. Sometimes I feel guilty that I don't miss things more. Even my parents, who sacrificed themselves for me in the end. I think that if I could cry, even once, it would be better. It would mean I could let go of things. But now at least I have you."

"Well, I promised your father that I would keep you safe."

"I don't think he meant that we should start sleeping together," she said with a laugh.

"He was one of the few adults to ask me to do something serious and important," said Hirano. "All my life, everyone has seen as a fat nerd."

"Well, you are a bit on the chubby side." Then she pulled the sheet back and took a closer look. "Hmm," she said. "Kohta, have you lost weight?"

"Yes, I think I have. No candy bars or chips. And a lot more exercise. Running from zombies is good for you, apparently. So long as you don't get caught."

"And you seem to be taller. I'm not sure that's possible."

"I stand up straight now. I sort of hunched before. I suppose I had some idea of being a small target."

"Huh. And how many zombies did you say you'd killed?"

"593. Quite a lot, really."

"I didn't know you were counting."

"When you only do one thing well, you keep track."

"I can think of at least one other thing you do well. Kiss me, hero."

* * *

><p>It took them three days to fix and prepare the boat. During that time they saw no zombies, something which Saya described as 'a bit disturbing'. They had taken supplies of food, water, fuel and weapons salvaged from around the city to the boat, and re-stocking was almost complete. After some decent food and rest, the refugees were in much better shape as well.<p>

"You know," said Hirano to Takashi, as they put the housing back onto the repaired engine, "after we finish here, I would like to do a personal errand. It's Saya's birthday tomorrow, and I would like to get her something. But I don't know what. Maybe you can suggest something, since you know more about women then I do."

"No man knows anything at all about women," said Takashi, as the two of them jumped onto the bank. "I have no idea what Saya would like. She might not even know it's her birthday. We've all had a lot on our minds, obviously."

"Oh, she knows. She mentioned it. In a roundabout way. That's how I know."

"Uh-huh. In that case, you have to get her something."

"I was thinking of a gun."

"Er, no. Not a gun. I think she would want something romantic. There's a row of ritzy stores in the next block, so you can get anything you want. Take Miss Marikawa with you, she'll be better at this than me. Look, here she is now."

As they watched, the bus, with Miss Marikawa and Alice, pulled up. Aki's party got out of the bus and onto the boat and began to make final preparations. Takashi watched as Hirano spoke to Miss Marikawa and Alice. Miss Marikawa laughed, and then the three of them began to walk up the street to the stores.

Rei, who had also been on the bus, came over to Takashi. "The bus is loaded and ready for us to go," she said. "Saya and Saeko are at the hotel, we can pick them up on the way."

"Sure," said Takashi. Then he stopped. "So, at the moment we're all in the different places, right? You and me here, Hirano, Miss Marikawa and Alice are a couple of streets away, and the others back at the hotel."

"Yes, that's right. So?"

"So, we're strongest when we're together."

"True, but we haven't seen any zombies for days."

"Exactly." He called to Aki on the boat. "Get into the middle of the river, away from the bank and the bridge!" he shouted.

Aki looked a bit puzzled but she untied the mooring line, started the engine and began to move the boat.

Takashi began to run to the bike, Rei following.

* * *

><p>Saeko and Saya were standing on the hotel balcony. Saya had a suitcase of 'personal stuff'; Saeko had her two swords, the Hokusawa blade and the sword from the temple.<p>

"I know we've only been here a few days but I'll kind of miss this place," said Saya. "And I'll miss having a decent bed to sleep in. Of course, they say that any place you lay your head is a good place if it's with the right person – "

She realised that Saeko wasn't listening. She was looking down at the streets around them.

"What is it?" said Saya.

"Something," murmured Saeko. He started to unsheathe one of the swords, just a finger-span of metal. "Something – "

It happened fast. Streams of zombies came pouring out of nearby buildings, moving quickly. Some came towards the hotel, and others ran towards the river. There were hundreds, maybe more. Some of them carried iron bars and other makeshift weapons.

"Fuck!" said Saya. "Do you think we can make it down to the street before they get here?"

"No," said Saeko.

* * *

><p>They had gone to a jewellery store and a perfume store, and now they were in a shop that sold fancy bedroom things. Miss Marikawa had not been very useful as a gift adviser, and Hirano had not seen anything that seemed right.<p>

"Maybe a nice set of silk sheets," Miss Marikawa said, picking up a luxurious-looking package.

"Do women like sheets?" said Hirano.

"Oh yes, especially to …er, not sleep on."

"After today, we might not have a bed for a while," Hirano pointed out.

"I didn't think of that. Maybe some perfume then."

"We've already been to the perfume store, and we couldn't find anything Saya-ish."

"It's not about the finding," said Miss Marikawa. "It's about the shopping. Well, perhaps I'll just keep these for myself." She began to stuff the sheets into her pack.

Alice giggled. Then she stopped. "What's that noise?" she said.

Hirano unslung his gun and released the safety. "Where?" he said.

"There," said Alice, pointing to the front of the store.

Three zombies came crashing through the glass windows. Hirano, warned, fired immediately, and all three went down. But more came bursting through the door.

"Up here!" said Alice, pointing to a flight of stairs. It was the only way.

"Go!" said Hirano. "I'll cover!"

They ran.

* * *

><p>On the bike, Takashi and Rei saw the mob of zombies advancing along the street. He came to a stop and began to turn.<p>

"What have you got?" he said.

"Automatic pistol with a twelve-shot magazine, one extra clip. You?"

"Just my Mauser, ten shots. So I would say we are short by about, oh, three hundred bullets."

"At least."

The zombies were blocking the road to the hotel. Rei pointed to a small alley, and Takashi turned the bike down it. It was eerily quiet.

"Look out!" shouted Rei. Takashi took the bike down and they slid along for several metres. A huge steel beam, suspended by chains, came sweeping along the length of the alley at waist-height, missing them by the width of a hand.

"Holy shit!" said Takashi. Bleeding from grazes but otherwise unhurt, they struggled to get up and right the bike.

A horde of zombies came running along the alley from the street. Rei drew her gun. Takashi pushed the foot-lever to re-start the bike.

R-r-r-r. Then nothing.

"Whatever you're going to do, do it fast!" said Rei, as she began to shoot.

* * *

><p>The hotel had reinforced doors but they were not enough to halt the suicidal force of the zombie attack. The undead creatures smashed their way through and into the ground-level foyer. They began to charge up the stairs.<p>

On the second floor, Saeko and Saya could hear them coming. There were glass doors that separated the balcony area from the rest of the floor but they would not last long.

"Two minutes until they find us, maybe less," said Saeko.

"So what do we do now?" said Saya.

Saeko drew her swords. "We die," she said. "With honour, I hope."

"Fuck that," said Saya. She looked over the balcony and onto the street below. "Look, nearly all of them have gone in. If we can get down we might be alright. But it's too far to jump, and there no way to climb down."

Then she saw it. A flagpole, sticking out near-horizontally, still displaying the flag of the hotel chain. And the flag was held in place by ropes.

"I have an idea," she said.

* * *

><p>Rei was on her second clip. Her fire had slowed the zombies but not stopped them.<p>

Takashi tried to start the bike again. Nothing. "Third time lucky," he whispered to himself. He heard Rei's gun click on empty. He crossed his fingers and rammed the lever down again.

And the engine roared into life.

"Let's go!" he said. She jumped on and they were moving.

There were three zombies at the far end, probably the ones that had operated the beam trap. Rei pulled Takashi's gun out of its holster and fired, leaning over his shoulder. Three down. Then they were out of the alley and heading back to the hotel.

* * *

><p>The zombies had followed them up the stairs. Now Hirano, Miss Marikawa and Alice were on the flat roof of the store.<p>

Hirano pulled a big pistol out of a pocket of the military-style jacket that he wore over his school blazer. He handed it to Miss Marikawa. Then he took a little pistol – his weapon of last resort – out of another pocket and handed it to Alice. "Do you know how to use this?" he said to her.

"I used to shoot zombies in video games," said Alice.

"Much the same thing," said Hirano.

There was a wooden door at the top of the staircase, but it was already starting to give way.

"Get ready," said Hirano.

* * *

><p>"I can lower you down a bit, onto that ledge near the pole," said Saya, "and then you can throw a rope back to me and I'll climb down. Then we can use the ropes to get to the ground."<p>

"Uh, maybe you should go down first," said Saeko.

"Won't work," said Saya. "I'm not tall enough to reach the ropes."

Saeko looked dubious. "I … don't like heights very much," she said. "Not at all, really."

"Huh. So you can kill 627 zombies but climbing out there is too much for you."

"Basically, yes."

"Well, grow a pair, girl."

There was the sound of zombies advancing along the corridor. A lot of zombies. Roaring and moaning and crying out for blood and flesh.

Saeko re-sheathed her swords. "Tell me more about this plan of yours," she said.

* * *

><p>The zombies came bursting through the wooden door. Hirano began to fire; over his own gun he heard the bang-bang of the big pistol and the pop-pop of the little one. He wondered how many bullets he had left. <em>Not enough<em>, he thought.

* * *

><p>Saya was not strong, and she felt as if her muscles were cracking as she lowered Saeko. She was lying on the rough concrete floor of the balcony. <em>This is going to give my boobs a gravel rash<em>, she thought suddenly. _Maybe Hirano will kiss them better._ Then she almost laughed at her own absurdity.

"Just a little more," said Saeko. "A little more."

She reached the ledge. It was only a few inches wide, but firm enough. And now she could reach the flagpole. She let go of Saya's hand and tried not to look down.

A huge zombie was coming up behind Saya, she could hear him. She rolled and pulled out her Luger in one motion, and shot. The zombie's head exploded.

Saeko could feel her heart pounding as she stretched for the ropes. One … more … inch. And then she had them. She pulled them towards her and started tying them together. She could hear Saya shooting above.

"Done!" she called up.

"I can't climb down!" shouted Saya. "They'll be on me as soon as I try!"

"Then jump! I'll catch you!"

"You'll … _what!_"

"Grow a pair!" shouted Saeko.

_Damn that woman_, thought Saya. She put her Luger back into its holster and climbed onto the balcony wall. She looked down, past Saeko. Actually, the ground was a lot further away than she had thought it would be.

A zombie hand grabbed one of her long ponytails.

She jumped – and yelped in pain as a chunk of hair was yanked out of her scalp.

And then Saeko somehow caught her, swung her in, and they were both standing on the ledge.

"Hold on to this," said Saeko, with a degree of calmness that seemed extremely inappropriate. She handed Saya a loop of rope. The other end was wound around the flagpole.

They launched themselves into space.

* * *

><p>Takashi and Rei pulled up in front of the hotel. "You think they got out?" said Rei. "Where do you think they might be?"<p>

"I think that Saeko and Saya are two people that zombies don't want to fuck with," said Takashi, although he was not sure they could have survived such a massive attack.

Then three zombies came out of the hotel, and started towards them.

Rei still had the Mauser in her hand. She raised it and pulled the trigger.

_Click._

"Damn," she said. The three zombies continued to advance.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Saeko and Saya swept to the ground, letting go of the rope at a run. In a moment, Saya had taken out her Luger and shot the middle zombie between the eyes. Saeko had both swords out and, sliding forwards, decapitated the other two in a single graceful movement.

"Hi," said Saya.

"We've come to save you," said Rei.

"This is not a good place for banter," said Saeko. "Where are the others?"

"Shopping," said Takashi.

"Uh, did you say shopping?" said Saya. "Er, where, exactly?"

"To find Hirano, follow the sound of gunfire," said Saeko.

* * *

><p>The first wave of zombies had been decimated by the concentrated fire but a second wave was readying themselves for an attack.<p>

_They've begun to develop a sense of tactics,_ thought Hirano. _They don't just walk into your sights anymore. _

"Hey, up there!" came a voice from the lane that ran behind the store. Rei. "Need any help?"

"Welcome to the party!" shouted Hirano back. He turned to Miss Marikawa and Alice. "Got any ideas on how to get down?" he said.

"We can jump, and they can catch us in the sheets," said Alice. "I did that at school once, in a fire drill. There were firemen, and they had a big round thing that they held and you jumped into."

"Nice plan," said Hirano. "Except that we don't have any sheets."

"Miss Marikawa has some in her pack, from the store," said Alice.

"Oh, so I do," said Miss Marikawa. She pulled the package out of her pack and threw it down.

"What the hell is this?" said Rei, as she tore the package open.

"I've got it," said Saya. "Everyone grab a corner, and double it up for strength."

When they were in position, they called up. Fortunately, the zombies had not found them – yet.

On the roof, a gang of zombies came storming through the doorway. Hirano fired, mowing them down. "Alice, you first!" he said.

Alice jumped. She fell squarely into the sheets. Rei helped her out, and then they readied themselves for Miss Marikawa.

"Not so sure about this," said Rei. "She's heavier than Alice."

"She probably bounces," said Saya.

"We're going to find out," said Takashi. "Here she comes!"

Miss Marikawa, her skirt billowing out around her waist, landed with a sound like a gentle sigh.

"Come on, Hirano!" shouted Takashi.

On the roof, Takashi's gun finally gave out. He looked at the advancing zombies.

"I have to be on my way," he said to them. "But I can't leave without giving you something to remember me by." He took two grenades from his pockets, pulled the pins, and rolled them towards the zombies. "Goodbye, and fuck you," he said. Then he went over the edge. The grenades exploded as he hit the sheet. He quickly untangled himself.

"Bus?" said Rei.

"Definitely," said Takashi.

"Most of the zombies are still in the hotel, I think, but as soon as they realise we aren't there they'll be after us," said Saya as they ran.

"Oh, I left a surprise, just in case," said Hirano.

At that moment, a zombie shuffled into a particular room of the hotel. It tripped a wire, which led to another wire, which led to –

Even from several blocks away, the explosion made the earth shake.

"Hirano," said Takashi, "I'm glad you're on our side."

"Probably not as glad as I am," said Saya.

Hirano looked at her. "You seem … sort of … lopsided," he said.

"I'm trying a new look," she said.

They reached the bus without further trouble, and found it untouched. Aki's boat was still anchored in the centre of the river, unharmed. She and Tsuga and the others waved when they saw them.

* * *

><p>For several kilometres, the road ran alongside the river, and the bus and the boat stayed together for that distance. Eventually, the road turned away, heading south. Miss Marikawa stopped the bus, and they all got out to watch the boat disappear around a bend. The city was behind them now, and there was no sign of zombies.<p>

They gave Aki and the others a final wave. Alice was watching through the binoculars. She suddenly gave a little yelp. "There, at the back!" she said, handing the binoculars to Takashi. Hirano lifted his gun so he could look through the telescopic sight.

At the stern of the boat, a rope trailed in the water. Holding on to it were four zombies. As Takashi and Hirano watched, the zombies began to pull themselves along the rope towards the boat.

Saya took the binoculars from Takashi. "Kohta, can you hit them from here?" she said.

"Too far," said Hirano softly.

"But you can try!"

"Too far," repeated Hirano.

"Aki and the others have got weapons," said Rei. "Maybe they can – "

"Maybe," said Takashi. "Let's hope so."

* * *

><p>It was the next day. After several hours of driving through the country, Miss Marikawa had stopped so they could stretch their legs.<p>

While Takashi and Rei re-fueled the bus, Hirano and Saya walked to a small grove of trees.

"I'm sorry," he said, "but yesterday there just wasn't the time to get you a real birthday present. I looked at diamonds, and perfume, and lace, but there just didn't seem to be anything appropriate. Not for you. You are very special. To me."

She smiled. "Silly, I don't want diamonds or perfume or anything else," she said. "I just want you." She kissed him on the cheek.

"All I have is this," he said. "I've been carrying it with me for a long time, years and years, long before all this happened."

He took a small object from his pocket. It was dog-eared from many readings, the leather cover faded and cracked. It was a book of poetry. He handed it to Saya.

She took it and held it tenderly. "I have received many expensive gifts in my life," she said. "But nothing as valuable as this."

Then, finally, she began to cry.

END

NEXT STORY IN SERIES:_ INTERLUDE - THE HAPPY FEW_


	3. Chapter 3

**Interlude - The Happy Few **

_Odd revelations, strange flotation devices, and an unusual haircut._

_[Author Note: This short story follows the story_ Dead and the Better Zombie. _The aim of this story is to provide a personal interlude in the series of longer stories, and to act as a prelude to the story_ Dead and the Road Home_.]_

By: Darkpenn

**Z+16**

They had been driving through the countryside for several days. Eventually, Takashi told Miss Marikawa to stop by a little river.

"We could all do with a wash, I think," he said to the group. "You guys go and have a swim, and I'll take the first lookout."

So Takashi, with the binoculars and a rifle, climbed up to the roof of the bus. The others ran down the little embankment to the river. Saeko was the first one to strip off her clothes and dive in.

Eventually, she got out and sat on the bank. She could see Hirano and Saya further along, laughing and splashing together. Miss Marikawa was doing a lazy backstroke across the river, and Alice was paddling at the edge with Zeke. Rei came out of the water and sat down next to Saeko. They were both naked.

"Good to get out of those clothes," said Rei. "The movies never mention the BO problem."

Saeko nodded. After a while, she said: "When you're fighting zombies, do you ever get really … aroused?"

Rei gave a little gasp. "Thank god for that," she said. "I thought I was the only one it happened to. Actually, just after it is the worst."

"Yes, sometimes," said Saeko. "There are times when I think I will not be able to stand it."

"You?" said Rei. "But you're the strongest one of us."

Saeko shook her head. "Not at all," she said. "Yes, the art of kendo is about self-discipline and control. My instructors told me that. They did not tell me how wet I would get when I was fighting. I suppose they did not anticipate that zombies would be a problem."

Rei sighed. "For me, the thing is that my nipples get really hard," she said. "Although there is also an issue lower down. Do you think that Saya knows how lucky she is, to have someone? There might be only two men left in the world, and she has one of them."

"Saya is … Saya," said Saeko.

Rei sighed again. "You're right about that," she said. "Tell me, do you, uh, do it a lot? To yourself, I mean."

"A great deal. Ever since the world ended."

"Me too. Funny, I didn't do it that much before. Did you have many lovers?"

"A few. Looking back, I do not think I appreciated them. I would certainly appreciate it now."

"Mmm."

"But you have Takashi."

"No, I don't. I'm not sure how much a grade-school pinky-swear counts under the present circumstances."

"Hmm," said Saeko. "Perhaps not. I am starting to resign myself to the possibility that I might never be with a man again. It is not a good prospect. I seriously considered Tsuga, Aki's brother, but the opportunity did not arise."

"Then what we have to do," said Rei, "is find some more survivors. So you can get your ass nailed. Well, I had better go and take the watch from Takashi, so he can have a dip. Probably, the only reason he's sitting up there is so we can watch us swim naked. Hence the binoculars."

Saeko smiled. "Do not be too hard on him," she said. "He feels the weight of leadership very heavily. I believe he worries all the time. About us. Perhaps you should offer him some oral sex."

"Perhaps _you_ should."

"Do not think that I have not thought about it. But I have a good deal of respect for you, and for him. So: no. He is for you, I think, and you are for him, childhood pledges or no."

The two of them started to dress.

Saya and Hirano came up. Saya was wearing Hirano's white school shirt, and her damp body had turned it transparent in critical places.

"Saeko," said Saya, "will you do something for me?"

"Does it involve sex?" said Rei.

"Pardon?" said Saya.

"Nothing," said Rei. "We were just … talking … about … things." She gave a little laugh, and then started back to the bus.

"Holy crap," muttered Hirano. He was looking at Miss Marikawa, floating on her back in the middle of the river. She was naked. "Are those things real?"

"From the feel of them, yes," said Saya. "I assume that they stop her from sinking."

Hirano started. "I don't know if I want to hear that story or not," he said.

"What can I do for you, Saya?" said Saeko.

"You remember that I lost one of my ponytails back at the hotel, when a zombie grabbed it? Well, it looks silly with just one. And I've had my hair like this since I was little. Time for a change, I think. So can you cut the other one off, with your sword? We don't have any scissors or anything."

Saeko picked up her sword. "This," she said, "is a Hokusawa blade. Hand-crafted. It is not a hairdressing implement."

"Told you," murmured Hirano.

"But it is true," continued Saeko, "that at present you look rather unbalanced. Turn around."

Saya did so.

Swish swish swish.

"Wow," said Hirano. "You look great, Saya. I mean, you looked great before. But now you look … also great. And grown-up. Not that you didn't look grown-up before. Er, I mean … "

He was saved by the arrival of Takashi. He took a look at Miss Marikawa. "Holy crap," he said. "Are those things real?"

"We have established that they are," said Saeko. "Takashi, did Rei say anything to you?"

"Uh, no, nothing special. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering."

Takashi undressed to his underclothes and dived into the river.

"Real or not, they're impressive," said Hirano, still looking at Miss Marikawa.

"Down, boy," said Saya. "Save it for me. Saeko, what did you think Rei would say to Takashi?"

"We had been discussing the issue of sexual arousal and the killing of zombies."

"Oh, that happens to you too, eh?"

"Indeed. And Rei as well."

Hirano looked from one of them to the other and back again. "Women," he muttered, "are strange. On the other hand, it explains a few things."

Saya nodded towards Miss Marikawa. "You think it happens to her?" she said to Saeko.

"Maybe you should ask."

"Mmm … no. Well, I guess every family has to have a bimbo somewhere along the line."

"Perhaps. But perhaps we should not under-estimate her. I have a feeling that she will prove her worth before this is through."

As they watched, Miss Marikawa swam into the shallows and stood up. Water cascaded down her voluptuous body. She waved to them.

"Humph," said Saya.

"Is that what we are?" said Hirano. "A family?"

"Guess so," said Saya.

" 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'," said Saeko.

" 'For he that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother'," finished Hirano.

Saeko nodded. She looked around: at Takashi, at Rei, at Alice, at Miss Marikawa, at Hirano and Saya. We few. We band of brothers.

She had never been more content.

END

NEXT STORY IN SERIES: _DEAD AND THE ROAD HOME_


	4. Chapter 4

**Dead and the Road Home**

_There are new dangers to be overcome, acts of courage from an unlikely source, and also remarkable news for the group._

_[Author Note: This story follows the story _Interlude – The Happy Few, _which follows_ Dead and the Better Zombie_. It takes place after the group has left the city.]_

By: Darkpenn

**Z+23**

After driving for several days, they stopped at an empty barn. There was a stream nearby where they could wash and replenish their supply of water, and the barn was large enough to hide the bus. There were piles of hay where they could lay out their sleeping bags, and the barn doors were sturdy enough to keep roaming zombies out. Nevertheless, they set a guard of rolling watches, as they usually did.

Takashi had finished his watch, handing over to Hirano, and settled into his bag to sleep.

He was awoken when he was kicked viciously in the stomach. He cried out in surprise and pain … and then found himself looking down the barrel of a rifle.

"Don't move," said the man with the gun.

He looked around. There were three men in the barn: the one standing over Takashi, one holding a machine gun, and – this was the worst – one holding Alice in front of him, with a knife at her throat.

Rei, Saya and Saeko were on their knees with their hands behind their heads. Hirano, unconscious, was lying in front of them, blood oozing from a gash on his forehead. Rei had a massive bruise on one side of her face.

"Get out of the bag and on your knees," said the man with the machine gun, who seemed to be in charge.

"What's it going to be, don't move or get out of the bag?" said Takashi.

The man with the rifle hit him across the face with the butt of the weapon. The impact rolled him out of the bag.

"On your knees," said the man with the machine gun. "Or … " he gestured towards the man holding Alice.

Not much choice. He did it, and put his hands behind his head. He glanced at Hirano.

"Don't blame him too much," said the sergeant. "He was on the lookout for zombies, not us, and he put up a helluva fight for a little guy."

Takashi caught Saeko's eye. She glanced to the corner, where her sword rested against a haybale. It was a long way away. He tried to answer silently: _no. Not yet._

He saw that the men were wearing uniforms, and the one with the machine gun had three stripes on his arm. The uniforms were bloody, filthy, and torn. "You military?" said Takashi.

"Were," said the sergeant. "When there was still a military, before everything went to shit. We were in First Platoon, Third Division, the once-proud Japanese Defence Force. That was – fuck, was it only four weeks ago? Now all we've got is these guns. So we'll be taking your vehicle, your supplies, your weapons – "

"And your women," said the man with the rifle. "Maybe not her," he said, pointing to Saeko. "She looks like trouble. So it will be a bullet in the neck for her, and for you, and for the little guy. So you don't try and follow us."

"And we'll take this one too, just for fun," said the man holding Alice.

"What's going on?" said a sleepy voice. It was Miss Marikawa. She crawled out of her sleeping bag and into the circle of light cast by the lanterns. She looked around.

"Ah, another one," said the sergeant. "And a pretty one, by the look of things."

Miss Marikawa stood up. "Whoa," she said. "Some real men. I was just having a really sexy dream about … well, real men. Haven't even seen any for … ages and ages and ages, it feels like."

She walked up to the man with the rifle. She let out a long sigh.

Slowly, she undid the top button of her shirt. Then the next one. Then she breathed a deep breath, and the next button popped open by itself, revealing her double-E bra and voluptuous curves. The man with the rifle stared.

"Want a closer look?" said Miss Marikawa.

"Hey!" said the man holding Alice. "Why him?"

"Don't worry, I've got enough for all of you, with plenty left for a second round," said Miss Marikawa huskily. "Whatever … you … want."

The man with the rifle leaned forward to get a better view.

She heaved another sigh, making her breasts rise.

The man leaned forward again.

And then Miss Marikawa put her arms around his head and pulled him into her cleavage. He gave a muffled shout of surprise and dropped the rifle.

"_Now!_" shouted Takashi.

Alice sank her teeth into the arm of the man holding her. He yelped in pain and released his grip on her.

Rei was off her knees and moving. She snatched Alice out of the man's grasp and rolled away as Saya lunged for Hirano. She reached for the pocket where he kept his last-resort pistol.

Takashi threw himself at the sergeant as Saeko went for her sword. The sergeant was much larger than Takashi and managed to push him aside, but it had given Saeko the seconds she needed. She reached the sword and unsheathed it as the sergeant fired a burst at her.

A bullet hit her as she threw the sword. It shot across the space between them like a flash of lightning and hit the sergeant in the chest. The machine gun fell from his hand.

Saya could see the soldier fumbling with his own gun. She found the pistol. There was no time to take it out of Hirano's pocket; she fired directly through the fabric, twice, three times. The man went down.

Miss Marikawa let the man she was holding go. He staggered backwards, gasping for air. Takashi scrambled to pick up the machine gun, but then realised there was no need.

There was a scalpel sticking out of the man's neck. Something important must have been cut: blood was gushing. He tried to pull it away but it broke in his hand.

"You can die now, fucker," said Miss Marikawa.

The man sank to his knees. Miss Marikawa punched him across the face. He collapsed.

The sergeant was still alive, lying in a spreading pool of blood. Saya walked over to him. She was holding Hirano's pistol.

He looked up at her. "Don't," he gasped. "We're all human, aren't we?"

"You beat up my boyfriend," she said. "So screw you."

Then she shot him in the head.

Miss Marikawa was tearing Saeko's clothes away so she could see the wound. It was in her abdomen. "God," she said. "It's really bad." She felt Saeko's back, looking for an exit wound. There wasn't one.

"Fuck, that hurts," groaned Saeko.

Takashi brought her sword and put it into her hand.

"Did we get all of them?" she said.

"Three down," said Takashi.

"Is Alice alright? Hirano?"

Takashi nodded.

Rei appeared with Miss Marikawa's medical kit. Miss Marikawa took out an emergency pressure-patch and put it over the wound, trying desperately to stop the bleeding.

"That was quite an act, Miss Marikawa," Saeko rasped.

"Honey," said Miss Marikawa, "I learned a long time ago that if your tits are good enough, you don't really need anything else."

Saeko coughed, which made her convulse in pain.

"I've been ready to die for my whole life," she said, "but now I don't want to go. Don't want to leave all of you. Not now."

"You're not going to die," said Miss Marikawa. "Not if I can help it."

But Saeko had passed out.

* * *

><p>Hirano regained consciousness a few minutes later, and they explained the situation to him. He was groggy but otherwise okay, aside from a massive headache and a multitude of bruises. Miss Marikawa gave him some painkillers from her kit but her mind was clearly on Saeko.<p>

"The problem," she said to the others, "is that the bullet is still in her, and I think she's bleeding internally, probably from a severed artery. She'll die in a matter of hours."

"Which means," said Saya, "that you have to cut her open, take the bullet out, and stop the bleeding."

"I … I can't do that," said Miss Marikawa. "I don't know how. She needs a hospital and a real doctor."

"Neither of which are even remotely possible," said Rei.

"But I'm just a school nurse!" said Miss Marikawa. "And just a temporary one! Mostly, all I do is hand out headache tablets and contraceptives!"

"You're all we have – all Saeko has," said Saya.

"But even if I knew what to do, I don't have the right equipment," said Miss Marikawa. "I don't even have a scalpel. I only had one, and I just used it to … er, kill that guy. Now it's broken. There isn't anything else sharp enough."

"There's Saeko's sword," said Alice. "That's really sharp."

"I'm betting the longer we debate about it, the worse it is for Saeko," said Takashi.

"We all think you can do it," said Alice.

Miss Marikawa drew a deep breath. "Okay, I'll try," she said. "Takashi, you and Rei put together some bales to make a table. Saya, clean the sword as well as you can, and put the blade into boiling water. Hirano, maybe you should take those bodies outside, they're really dirty and that can't be good for her. I'll need someone to help me – you, Saya. Alice, get the other lanterns, I'll need plenty of light."

Everyone set about their tasks. Miss Marikawa studied the contents of her medical kit, which she had supplemented with other supplies collected during their stay in the city.

"Fuck me sideways," she said to herself. "Killing a person is much easier than saving one."

* * *

><p>Miss Marikawa had given Saeko sedation from the kit but now, poised to begin, she hesitated.<p>

"What's the problem?" said Saya, who was standing next to her, holding Saeko's carefully-cleaned sword.

"I need something for sterilisation," she said. "Water won't do. I don't have anything in the kit."

"Try some of this," said Hirano. "One of the soldiers had it." He handed her a bottle half-full of brandy.

"Just what I need," said Miss Marikawa. She took a large swig.

"Uh, I mean for sterilisation," said Hirano.

"What? Oh yeah, it will work for that too," said Miss Marikawa. She poured some over the area. "Saya, cut here, where the entry hole is, make it about four inches long and half an inch deep."

Carefully, Saya did so. There was a sudden gush of blood, but after it was wiped away the flow became only a trickle. "What's next?" Saya said.

"Next," said Miss Marikawa, "I put my hand in and grab the bullet. Except I don't think I can. I think I'll puke if I do."

"Miss Marikawa," said Alice. "Please try."

Miss Marikawa sighed. She pulled a surgical glove from the kit on, and then put her hand into the wound, slowly working her way forward. After long seconds, she said: "I think … yes, that's it, I think. Now if I can just get my fingers … there." Slowly, she pulled her hand back. With an odd-sounding _pop!_, it came out. She opened her bloody hand … and there was the bullet. "Somebody take this, and take this glove off me and put another on, Saya, thanks. Now I have to stitch up the artery. I could feel where it was. There didn't seem to be anything else ruptured or broken."

Carefully, she teased the damaged artery out of the wound. Half-severed, it was gushing blood, but she stopped that with a little clamp from her kit. Then she sewed the break together. When she removed the clip there was no leakage of blood. She gently guided the artery back to its place. Finally, she closed the wound.

"That's it, I think," she said. "Now I have to – " she ran outside, and the others heard her vomiting.

They looked at each other. "Maybe courage is facing down a horde of zombies," said Takashi, "and maybe it's facing something you don't think you can do and doing it anyway."

* * *

><p>Saeko opened her eyes. It was the next day.<p>

She tried to move but a spasm of pain shot through her. She groaned. She heard Rei shout: "Miss Marikawa, she's awake!"

In a moment Miss Marikawa was leaning over her. She put two fingers on Saeko's neck.

"How's her pulse?" said Rei, appearing at her side with Alice and Hirano.

"I have no idea," said Miss Marikawa. "It's just something that I saw people do on television. But I'm guessing that the fact she's alive means that, well, she's alive. Saeko, how do you feel?"

"Like I've been shot."

"Well, yes, you would, wouldn't you? Can you move?"

"No."

"Good, don't try. I suppose that's right."

"Saeko, you should have seen her," said Alice. "She pulled the bullet out and sewed you up and everything. Then she was sick."

"So now I have two scars," said Saeko weakly. "Thank you, Shizuka. How long have I been out?"

"About ten hours," said Hirano.

"So we've been here nearly a full day," said Saeko. "We should move soon."

Takashi walked up. "No, we shouldn't," he said. "You've got an artery freshly sewn up inside, you know. We'll stay here at least another couple of days and then we'll think about leaving. No rush."

"But – "

"I once said that I would be responsible for you," said Takashi. "And I meant it."

"But – "

"You stay right where you are," said Miss Marikawa. "Doctor's orders."

Saeko looked up at her. "Are you a doctor?" she said.

"Guess so," said Miss Marikawa. "And doctor says that you should get some more rest."

"Alright," said Saeko. She closed her eyes and slept.

* * *

><p>Takashi, Rei, Hirano, Saya, Alice and Miss Marikawa were sharing a meal.<p>

"It might be a bit dangerous to not be on the move," he said, "but – "

"But nothing," said Saya. "We'll stay right here until she's strong enough to travel."

"Long as it takes," said Hirano.

"If there's trouble, we'll deal with it when it happens," said Rei.

Takashi looked at Alice and Miss Marikawa, who nodded agreement.

"Here's something," said Hirano. He pulled a ragged kitbag forward. "This is what our visitors left behind. There are some more guns but to tell the truth nothing as good as what we already have. And then there is this. It isn't very good news." He unfolded a military map. "As far as I can make out, these black marks were army positions. These red crosses show when a position was over-run by zombies, there's a date and the number of soldiers fighting. Then the army would pull back and set up new positions, but with fewer soldiers. Then those would be over-run. And so on."

"Judging from this, and from what those guys told us, it's likely that by now there are no military forces left," said Takashi. "Which means no safe place for large populations."

"My conclusion too," said Hirano.

"There might be some," said Rei. "Navy ships at sea, maybe. Bases on islands. The zombies can't swim, can they?"

"I wouldn't bet on that," said Saya. "And we don't even know how the infection starts. Maybe it's just a certain proportion of people who are affected and start turning without being bitten. We saw at the school how quickly one zombie can spread it through hundreds of people. The last news broadcasts said that the infection was all over the world. I doubt that the military in other countries would have done much better than ours."

"So maybe the only survivors are small groups who were lucky," said Rei.

"And smart," said Saya.

"And could shoot straight," said Hirano. "But if we could make it this far, there must be others who could too."

Takashi was studying the map. "It looks to me like most of the zombies are in the cities and towns," he said. "That's where the main battles have been, anyway. Maybe staying in rural areas is our best bet."

"Does that mean that we can go to Grandma's and Grandpa's farm?" said Alice.

"Yes," said Takashi. "It does."

* * *

><p>It was four days before Saeko could walk unaided. Miss Marikawa gave her antibiotics and monitored her for signs of infection from the makeshift surgery but found nothing. There was no sign of zombies or marauding survivors in the area.<p>

Alice remembered that her grandparents lived near a village called Sheroda. It was marked on one of their maps, and they decided to head for it.

It took them several days to reach Sheroda. They arrived in mid-morning. They stopped some distance away and observed it for an hour from the top of a hill. There was no sign of life, or of zombies. It was not the first empty village they had seen.

"It looks creepy, all quiet like that," said Alice. "There used to be people and cars and everything."

"Saya, you and Hirano take the bike and ride down the main street," said Takashi. "Stay in the centre and be prepared for a fast getaway. The noise should bring out any zombies and should also alert any survivors. If the place is really empty, try and find some petrol, we could use some more."

Saya and Hirano set off, Saya driving as usual. Takashi and the others watched from the hilltop.

Saya and Hirano rode slowly along the main road, Hirano holding his gun at the ready. At the end of the street was a petrol station that doubled as a mini-market. They stopped near it. Empty, deathly silence.

"Whatever happened here, I think we missed it," said Hirano. "Which is not necessarily a bad thing."

Saya waved to the others that it was clear. Miss Marikawa drove the bus down and they began to re-fill the tank, using the manual pump that they carried.

Rei, Saya and Saeko collected supplies from the shop attached to the petrol station. Canned and packaged food, bottled water and, Takashi saw, tampons. Well, I guess that's a necessity, he thought.

"And here is something for you two," said Saya to the two men. She handed them each a packet of razors. "Shave," she ordered. "We're going visiting, and you're letting down the team."

"Uh, okay," said Hirano.

Takashi laughed. He turned to Alice. "Alice," he said, "can you remember the way to the farm from here?"

"I think so," said Alice. "You go along this road and then at a big tree you turn onto a dirt road."

They followed Alice's directions, and a half-hour later pulled up at the gate. The farmhouse was two hundred metres away, up a little rise.

"Now we're here, how do you intend to play it?" said Rei to Takashi in a whisper. "If the people are dead or turned, we probably shouldn't let Alice see it."

Takashi nodded, thinking. "Rei, you and I will go up on foot," he said eventually. "Alice stays here until we know the situation. Hirano, you know what to do."

Rei put a pistol into her belt, at the back so it could not easily be seen. They walked to the farmhouse and stood on the porch.

"Now what?" said Rei.

Takashi knocked on the door. Rei put her hand on her gun, ready to draw.

The door opened, and they were faced by an old man. He had a double-barrelled shotgun levelled at them.

"Grandfather Maresato?" said Takashi. Suddenly, he was glad he had shaved.

The old man started. "Yes," he said. "Who are you?"

"We are friends of your grand-daughter Alice," said Rei. "We have brought her to you."

The old man started again. Slowly, he lowered the gun.

"I'm not a fool, so don't take me for one," he said. "My wife has you covered from the window."

"And don't take us for fools either," said Takashi. "One of my friends has a sniper rifle on her right now."

The old man stared at them. Then his face broke into a smile. "Son, if you've lived this long you must be doing something right!" he said. "You're a man after my own heart!"

An old woman appeared next to him, also carrying a shotgun. "Did you say you had Alice?" she said. "And is her father also with you?"

"He … didn't make it," said Takashi.

The old woman gave a little cry. After a moment, Grandfather Maresato said: "Call your friends over, son. And you can take your hand off that gun behind your back now, girl."

Takashi waved for Miss Marikawa to bring the bus up. As soon as the bus had stopped, Alice leaped out and ran to her grandparents, hugging them and crying with joy.

"Come and have some tea, all of you," said Grandmother Maresato.

* * *

><p>Over tea they exchanged stories. Grandfather and Grandmother Maresato had not left the farm since the outbreak. They had plenty of food stockpiled and there was more in their large garden, and they had a well for water.<p>

A week after the outbreak, the army had tried to get them to go to a 'protected military facility' but they had refused to leave their farm. After the EMP burst disabled their car they could not leave even if they had wanted to.

They had been attacked by small groups of zombies twice, near the start, but had managed to kill them all. A few days ago, two marauders had come to the door and they had met a similar fate. Grandfather Maresato and Grandmother Maresato, clearly, were not people to be under-estimated.

Alice recounted the group's adventures. Then, quite suddenly, she fell asleep on the couch.

"And now that you have brought her back to us," said Grandfather Maresato, "will you be leaving?"

The six of them looked at each other. "Grandfather, grandmother," said Saeko in a tone of formal respect, "we are ourselves seeking a place of refuge from the current troubles of the world."

"So you can stay!" cried Grandmother Maresato, clapping her hands. "That is wonderful!" She looked at Saya. "And we are especially pleased that you will stay with us, dear," she said, "given your condition."

"Uh, what condition is that?" said Hirano.

Saya looked around at them. "I am pregnant," she said.

"_What!_" said Rei. "H … how?"

"The usual way," said Saya.

"I thought you were taking precautions," said Miss Marikawa.

"We did, but not the first time," said Saya. "And not the second, either. And now I think of it, not the third and fourth, as well. And there were some other times when … well, you know."

Saeko laughed. _Odd_, thought Takashi, _I've never heard her laugh before._

"Is this a matter for congratulations?" said Rei to Saya.

Saya looked at Hirano. "Is it?" she said to him.

"Yes," he said. "Very much yes."

Saya gave a sigh of relief. "To tell the truth, I didn't know how you would feel," she said. "But I am very happy about it. Very, very happy. I love you, Kohta, and I hope you love me."

"Oh yes," he said. "With all my heart."

"You picked a strange time for it," said Rei. "But it's great news, the best news possible."

"This calls for saki!" said Grandfather Maresato.

* * *

><p>Saeko, Rei and Takashi were sitting on the farmhouse porch, enjoying the cool evening air. "Hard to imagine Saya as a mother," Takashi said. "Or Hirano as a father, for that matter. But they're off to a good start, I guess."<p>

"A fresh start for all of us, perhaps," said Saeko. "In the midst of all this suffering and darkness, young love and new life. Maybe this is a sign that there is hope, after all."

"Maybe it is," said Takashi.

"Amen to that," said Rei.

END

NEXT STORY IN SERIES:_ THE PROMISE_


	5. Chapter 5

**The Promise**

_Sometimes, the end of one thing is the beginning of something else …_

By: Darkpenn

**Z+54**

It was a month after they had arrived at the Maresato farm. Much had changed.

Hirano and Takashi had repaired the Maresato's car, and also their tractor, using parts from the garage at Sheroda and a larger town a bit further away. They had repaired a truck, and they had used the truck to bring a generator and a large tank of petrol to the farm. They had also salvaged two caravans, since the farmhouse was not large enough to comfortably accommodate them all. Saya and Hirano took one, and Saeko took the other.

Grandfather and Grandmother Maresato were delighted to have them at the farm: not just to have their grand-daughter with them but because of the better security and the extra hands. Grandfather Maresato enjoyed showing Hirano how to milk the cow, and Grandmother Maresato fussed over Saya, trying to teach her to cook – 'something every mother should know', she said. Saya did not prove to be a particularly good cook – her genius, apparently, did not extend to the kitchen – but Hirano ate everything she produced and pronounced it to be wonderful.

Rei was standing on the porch. She was watching Saeko, silhouetted against the setting sun, working through her kendo exercises. Her wound had fully healed, and now she did these exercises every evening, showing her usual self-discipline and strength.

Grandmother Maresato came up beside her. "She is beautiful, that one," said the old woman.

"I have always admired her," said Rei. "And she saved all our asses more times than I can count."

"A warrior," said Grandmother Maresato. "Necessary in times like this. But lonely. Needs a man."

"So she has said."

"Needs a particular man. And he needs her as well, although he probably does not know it. Men do not know much about these matters."

Saeko finished her training routine. She knelt, in the formal position of the samurai, before the setting sun. She bowed her head.

"Then why doesn't she do something about it?" said Rei. "Why doesn't he?"

Grandmother Maresato shook her head. "Because of you," she said.

"Me? How so? Just because Takashi and I played together when we were little kids?"

"Made promise," said Grandmother Maresato. "Only you can take it back."

"Huh. Is that how it works?"

"Sometimes."

Rei considered this. Hirano came out to the porch.

"Dinner is ready," he said. "Saya made it."

"Oh dear," said Grandmother Maresato.

"Please eat it and say you like it," said Hirano. "Even if you don't." He bowed and then went back inside.

"I wish I had someone who loved me that much," said Rei.

"Perhaps, one day, you will," said Grandmother Maresato. "The world has a way of bringing things to you, sometimes when you least expect them. Sometimes they seem to just fall out of the sky."

"Maybe," said Rei. "I hope so."

* * *

><p>Later in the evening, Rei went to Takashi's room. He was studying maps of the region, as he often did.<p>

"Planning a holiday?" she said.

"More like a reconnaissance mission," he said. "To neighbouring farms and things. See what's there. See if we can find anyone else."

"Who would go?"

"You and me, maybe."

"Perhaps you and Saeko should do it."

He looked away. "I sometimes find it … difficult … to spend time with Saeko," he said.

"What, you don't like her?"

"Just the opposite."

Rei said nothing for a long time. Then she said: "Do you remember the pinky-swear?" she said.

Takashi nodded.

"So do I," said Rei. "I remember it well enough to say that it no longer matters. I release you from your promise. And I'm telling you that if you don't go to Saeko right now I'm going to punch you."

Takashi looked at her.

"What, do I have to drag you to her caravan and throw you in?" said Rei.

"You think she wants … ?"

"I know it."

Takashi was silent, thinking. Then he threw the maps aside. He was at the door of the room when he stopped. Over his shoulder he said: "Thank you, Rei."

Rei smiled. "Go get her, tiger," she said.

* * *

><p><strong>Z+81<strong>

Rei, Saya, Hirano and Alice were working in the garden. Takashi and Saeko had been gone on their latest reconnaissance trip for several days.

" – I wish that Grandmother Maresato would stop her fussing," Saya was saying. "I'm not due for months yet. Sometimes I think she forgets how many zombies I killed."

"Maybe she's just looking forward to being a grandmother again, sort of," said Hirano. "So will you be a big sister, Alice?"

But Alice wasn't listening. She was looking at the sky.

"Plane," she said. She pointed.

It was a small, single-propeller plane, high-up, circling. As they watched, it lost altitude. It seemed to be searching for a place to land.

"Good or bad?" said Rei.

"Find out," said Saya.

Their guns were never far away. Hirano picked up his automatic rifle from the edge of the garden and Saya checked the Luger that was always on her shoulder. Rei, who usually carried a pistol in a holster at the back of her belt, pulled it out and checked the clip. They began to walk to the dusty road that led up to the farmhouse, where it looked like the plane was going to land.

Grandfather Maresato, Grandmother Maresato, and Miss Marikawa had come out of the house and were standing on the porch, watching the plane.

"Alice, stay with your grandparents," said Saya. "Grandfather, keep your shotgun handy."

The plane landed, bouncing to a halt not far from them. It had an Air Force insignia on the side but the plane itself was old. A young-ish man in a battered uniform climbed out.

"Hello," said Hirano. "I'm sure you will understand if I tell you to put your hands up, please."

The pilot, not seeming surprised, did so.

"I am Captain Benaro Tatagi of the Japanese Self Defence Air Force, what's left of it," he said. "I'm doing a flyover of the area, looking for survivors. I saw your vehicles."

"Have you found many others?" said Saya.

"Some," he said. "Mainly in places like this. There's a few hundred people in the base that I come from, Kaga Base."

"Seen any zombies?" said Hirano.

"They mainly stay in the cities and towns," said Tatagi. "But there are some small groups wandering about."

"This doesn't look like a standard Air Force plane," said Saya.

"No, well, it's one of the few planes of any type that we have left. I used to fly a jet fighter, but now this is my baby. It used to be a trainer. It was out of the EMP area, so it survived."

"Why are you looking for people?" said Saya. "Do you plan to take them to this base of yours?"

"No, of course not. People can come if they want, but they don't have to. If they're doing alright on their own, they may as well stay put. But knowing there are other survivors is itself a pretty important thing. Uh, can I put my hands down now?"

"What?" said Hirano. "Oh, hands, right, put them down."

Rei gave a little laugh.

Tatagi looked at Rei, seeing her for the first time. Then he started to stare at her.

After a long while, he said: "You're … her."

"Pardon me?" said Rei.

Tatagi reached into the cabin of the plane and pulled out a piece of paper that had been attached to the instrument panel.

It was a photograph, a bit faded. It was of Rei. On the back of a motorbike, behind Takashi. Riding across a bridge. She was looking up at the camera and smiling, waving, her hair flying.

"You were the pilot who took this photo?" she said.

"Yes," he said. "Like I said, I used to fly a jet."

"And you kept it? All this time?"

"I kept it," he said, "because I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen."

_Sometimes they seem to just fall out of the sky._

"Captain," said Rei, "perhaps you would like to have some lunch with us."

"Yes," he said. "I think I would like that."

END

NEXT STORY IN SERIES: _KAGA BASE – 'HOLDING ON'_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Kaga Base: 'Holding On'**_

_Seven months after the Outbreak, remnants of humanity are managing to survive – just._

_[Author's Note: This story, part of the _Chronicles of Takashi Komuro_ cycle, takes place six months after the story _The Promise_; and about six months after the group reached the Maresato farm. _Kaga Base_ should be read as a prelude to the story_ Dead and the Last Show_.]_

**Z+219**

"So this," said Saya, "is the wonderful Kaga Base that Tatagi has told us so much about. Humph."

Takashi stopped the convertible at the main gate. There was a long fence, layers of barbed wire held in place by concrete poles. The gate itself was just a swinging boom but Takashi saw that there was a barricade of barbed wire that could be lifted into place. There was a wide ditch on the outer side of the fence, and raised wooden platforms on the inner side.

Two men in battered JSDF uniforms came up to them.

"Hello," one of them said, in a surprisingly un-military way. "Don't think I've seen you before."

Takashi was a little taken aback. "We've been asked to come by Major Arimake," he said. He pulled out the letter, really a polite invitation, and handed it to the guard. The letter had been delivered by Tatagi on one of his regular visits to Maresato farm.

"Ah, she told us to expect you," said the guard, reading the letter. "Pull in over there, near that building. That's the Major's office. You can leave your weapons here if you like," he said.

"We don't like," said Saya.

The other guard looked at the sword held by Saeko. "May I see that?" he said.

"No," said Saeko.

"Oh. Right. Well, through you go then."

Takashi did as directed, and they got out, with Hirano helping Saya, who was now seven months pregnant. A middle-aged woman came out of the office and over to them. She was wearing a uniform that seemed to be patched together out of other uniforms.

"I'm Major Arimake," she said. "I'm in command here, more or less. It's good to finally meet you. You're famous, you know."

"Famous?" said Hirano. "What for?"

"For … surviving," she said. "Benaro has passed on the tales of your exploits, and people love to hear them. You give them hope, in a word. A sense that there might be a future.

"I was just going to the kitchen to get some lunch. Perhaps you would like to join me, and I can give you the tour on the way."

"I would like to find out more about your fence," said Hirano, as they walked. "It doesn't seem strong enough to keep zombies out."

"Actually, barbed wire is what we've found to be the most effective," she said. "Zombies can climb over or knock down a wall but they just get tangled up in the wire. You probably saw the ditch, which also slows them down. If there was enough to them they could probably get it down but we put shooters on the platforms if there is an attack. And the wire means that we can use flamethrowers as well, which are pretty effective. But you know about using fire against them, of course."

"We do," said Takashi. "Have you had many attacks?"

"At the start, yes, but nothing for several months now. Benaro's plane helps us to spot any, as well as keeping us in touch with outlying groups of survivors. It's a big asset, that little plane."

They arrived at the building that served as the base kitchen. They were served meals – not very large ones – and sat down at a long table. The major looked at the weapons that the group carried.

"I am sure you will understand if we want to keep these with us," said Takashi. "The last time we met soldiers, they were not so polite."

"Yes, I heard about that," said Arimake. "It was not uncommon, in that period right after the military collapsed, for soldiers to do that. On behalf of the JSDF, I apologise, not that that means much."

"You seem to be doing alright here," said Hirano.

"We're holding on, but sometimes only just," said Arimake. "This used to be an Air Force training base, although it had been closed for several years. And it's pretty small, by military standards. After the Outbreak, the military didn't think of using it as one of the collection and defence points. Their idea was to get as many civilians as possible together and then have large numbers of military units to defend them.

"That didn't work. It only took one of them to get through to have the whole thing fall apart. I went through that three times. Then everything just sort of collapsed, and there was no command structure or communications. I'd served at Kaga Base earlier in my career, so I gathered up whoever was left and we came here. It was outside the EMP zone, as well. Other survivors joined us later. We have located some other groups, in isolated farms and houses. And then of course there are the groups that you have found, Takashi. Benaro gave me the maps that you drew up and he has made some flying visits. I'm trying to draw up a list of people and places. We know the locations of about a thousand people, all told."

"How many people do you have here?" said Hirano.

"341," said Arimake. "With that number of people, food is a constant problem. Our stocks from before are starting to get low, and we've salvaged pretty well everything possible from the surrounding area. We're trying to grow some food, and that's working, but I'm afraid that one problem is going to tip us over the edge. And of course, we don't have electricity. We have a generator but we want to keep the petrol for the plane and our vehicles."

"We have a windmill," said Hirano. "We generate power that way. We found an abandoned factory that made them. It was outside the EMP area. It was in pieces, with a lot of other stuff, but we have one going now, and a battery system too. Been going for a month now."

Arimake looked astonished. "Who worked out how to do that?" she said.

"I did," said Saya.

"Can you show us how to get one working, maybe hook it up to our generator?" said Arimake.

"Maybe," said Saya.

They finished their meal and started to walk around the base. It was slow going: people kept coming up to them to shake their hands and slap them on the back.

"I'm worried about having so many people in the one place," said Arimake. "We have several Armoured Personnel Carriers and other vehicles, and plenty of guns, but what keeps me awake at night is the prospect of one zombie getting through the wire."

"Maybe the answer is to disperse people," said Takashi. "You know, in the area around us there are quite a few abandoned farms and houses. Some of them have still got whatever they had before, chickens or cows or whatever. We've brought some animals to our place but now we have all we can use. Maybe some of your people would like to move into those farms and try and get them operating. If they can generate a surplus of food, that might help you with your supply problem."

"And we have someone who can provide medical services to people nearby," said Hirano. "She'd love to do it. She's just learned to ride a horse."

Arimake considered. "Certainly, there are people here who would like to try something like that," she said. "And I like the idea of spreading out our people a bit more. The Maresato farm is about two hundred kilometres away, right?"

"A bit less."

Arimake nodded, thinking. "Feasible," she said. "I'll start asking for volunteers. Will you take responsibility for getting them organised in your area?"

Takashi grimaced. "If the need arises," he said. "Rei would be better. I've got enough responsibilities already, and soon I'm going to have some more. "

"Really?" said Saya.

"Yes," said Saeko.

"What are you talking about?" said Hirano.

"I'll explain later, dear," said Saya.

They continued to look around. "You've got a lot of interesting things here," said Hirano to Arimake. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have a priest, would you?"

"A priest? As it happens, we do. Why do you ask?"

"Just … wondering," said Hirano. Saya poked him in the ribs.

* * *

><p>It was the next morning. After spending the night at Kaga Base, the four of them were in the car, driving home.<p>

As they rounded a bend, a shaft of sunlight broke through the clouds and lit up the hills.

"Looks like it's going to be a good day," said Saeko.

END

NEXT STORY IN SERIES:_ DEAD AND THE LAST SHOW_


	7. Chapter 7

**Dead and the Last Show**

_Takashi and his friends thought that they had left trouble behind. But trouble comes looking for them._

_[Author's note: This story mainly takes place sixteen months after the story _Kaga Base – 'Holding On', _which should be read as a prelude to this story; and about two years after the Outbreak. It concludes the_ Chronicles of Takashi Komuro _story cycle.]_

**Z+728**

Saya walked up the hill to Saeko. She was standing like a statue, her hand on her sword, looking north. Looking towards the city that lay over the horizon. The sun was close to setting.

"The kids are being fed by their dads," said Saya, as she came up next to her friend. "And Grandmother, of course."

"That's good," said Saeko softly, without moving.

She drew her blade from its scabbard a little. Then she let it slide back.

"What is it?" said Saya. Instinctively, her hand went to her Luger.

"Something," Saeko murmured. "Something."

"The last time you said that, it meant trouble," said Saya.

Saeko was silent. Then she turned and started to walk back to the farmhouse, leaving Saya staring at the horizon.

Saeko stopped and said over her shoulder: "A storm is coming." Then she walked away.

"Well," said Saya to herself, "that can't be good."

* * *

><p>Takashi readily admitted that he did not understand Saeko. At times, such as when she was playing with their son Rise – now nearly eight months old – she seemed very much like any other woman, if an extremely beautiful one. At other times – when she was deep in a kendo routine or bent over a page of calligraphy, for example – she seemed to exist in another world, an untouchable universe of the sword and the soul.<p>

He sometimes wondered if she was happy here, growing vegetables and chasing chickens. She was, after all, a warrior, a perfect machine for doing what she did when she had a blade in her hand. Would she, he wondered, be happier if they were driving from one end of the country to the other, killing zombies as they went and not giving a thought to next season's crop? Did the cottage taking shape a hundred metres from the farmhouse, the house that would be a home for their family, really matter to her? Did he, Takashi? Did Rise? Or did her heart really belong only to _bushido_?

He looked around at the Maresato farm compound. Saya's windmill swished away, charging batteries for the farms and houses nearby. There were three similar windmills at Kaga Base: he smiled when he remembered that the people there referred to them as 'saya-mills'.

The garden around the Maresato farm – expanded from one to three fields – was filled with vegetables. Hirano's first crop of rice would be ready soon. The number of goats and chickens had become so large that they had begun to send animals to Kaga Base with boxes of vegetables and eggs.

And then there was Saya's schoolhouse – not much more than a large prefabricated shed, but she was immensely pleased with it and with her eleven students, including Alice. The building was a few hundred metres from the farmhouse, a distance that had worried Takashi at first. But Saya always had her Luger, and had installed a warning bell. Alice – now nearly ten years old but, like the rest of his friends, much older – was extremely capable, and was always armed.

He was proud of it all, and of his role in it. There was no other word. And he loved Saeko. So what did it matter if she did not love him in the same way he loved her? It was enough.

He heard the buzz of Tatagi's plane, which had Rei on board. It was coming in to land. He signalled Saeko, who was working at the other end of the garden. The two of them started towards the dirt road that doubled as a landing strip.

The plane bounced to a halt and Rei jumped out, Tatagi close behind. Rei was wearing an expression that Takashi had not seen for several years.

"How many?" said Saeko.

"All of them," said Rei.

* * *

><p>Rei opened the laptop computer and connected the digital camera to it. "We took these photos a few hours ago," she said as the images came up on the screen. She unfolded a map across the table. "Here, and here, north of Sheroda and coming south."<p>

"It … can't be," said Hirano. "There can't be that many."

The formation was huge, so large it hardly fitted into the aerial photographs.

This wasn't a band of wandering zombies. This was an advancing army. They were, by and large, following the road, in a long column. They were moving slowly but with a sense of purpose and cohesion.

"That's why we haven't seen any for so long," said Saya, who had come up from the schoolhouse. "They were massing. They must have come from all over the country."

"But how can they be so organised?" said Tatagi. "I thought they were mainly just instinctive. Smarter than they were at the start, yeah, but not capable of this sort of thing."

"I have sometimes thought," said Saya, "that the virus, if that's what it is, creates some sort of collective consciousness. A hive mind, like bees or ants, something like that. We really don't know much about them, and no-one has ever been able to get close enough to find out. No-one who's come back, anyway. It would explain how they seem to be able to communicate even though they don't seem able to talk in any meaningful way."

"And there is this," said Rei. "We took these shots behind the formation. This is the area they had passed through."

This set of photographs showed ruined and smashed buildings, dead animals, everything destroyed. It was as if the army of zombies was intent on wiping out every trace of human presence.

"This isn't just war," said Takashi. "This is genocide."

"Let me see the pictures of the main body again," said Saya. "Can you enlarge it, this area here? More? Good. Now look at this." She pointed.

Many of the zombies carried weapons: metal bars and clubs, mainly. But a few had guns.

"That is very bad," said Hirano.

"Er, maybe they don't know how to use them," said Tatagi. "Maybe they think they're just sticks or something."

"Dangerous assumption," said Saya. "Rei, are the time codes on all these photos right?" Rei nodded. Saya began to take measurements and scribble calculations.

"Are they heading to Kaga Base?" said Tatagi.

"Sort of," said Hirano, looking at the map. "If they planned to go there directly, they would probably have gone along this road here, see. But they didn't. They'll get there eventually on the road they're on but they must have something else on their hive-y mind."

"They're coming for us," said Saeko.

Everyone looked at her. She shrugged.

"Well, I guess we have killed an awful lot of them," said Hirano. "And now they want payback."

"What will happen when they get to Kaga Base?" said Tatagi. "It's got defences."

"They'll roll right over the top of it," said Takashi.

"But … we have a fence! And a ditch!"

"Yeah, that will work," said Takashi.

"Uh, have you ever actually fought zombies?" said Hirano.

"Well, I've dropped bombs on them from a jet fighter."

"Nothing … closer?"

"Er, no."

"Then trust us on this, honey," said Rei.

"I have some numbers," announced Saya. "Based on what we can see about their rate of movement, they will reach Sheroda village in about twenty hours. Maresato farm, five hours after that. Kaga Base, a week from now, maybe a bit longer."

"So there is time to evacuate Kaga Base," said Takashi. "To where, I don't know. I think this army will just keep going to the sea, destroying everything in their path."

"And we have enough time to get everyone from the Maresato area out as well," said Tatagi.

"Hmm," said Saya.

"Uh, what does 'hmm' mean?" said Tatagi.

There was the sound of a dog barking from the porch. Zeke.

The five of them were up and running in a moment, Tatagi trailing. At the door, Hirano stopped at the gun rack. "Tatagi, what have you got?" he said.

"Er, nothing on me at the moment," said Tatagi.

"Take this," said Hirano, handing him a shotgun. "And this." A Glock pistol. "And this." A machete. Then he was gone, a big gun in his hands.

Tatagi stumbled through the door onto the porch … and then stopped in amazement.

There was a battle going on in the front yard. Twenty zombies, at least, and more were running up from the road. Somehow, they had got over the wire.

* * *

><p>Alice was not the oldest student in the class but she knew the others looked to her in times of crisis, especially when Saya was not there. So when she heard Zeke barking, she was the first to the window, and the first to see three zombies running towards the school. She couldn't see what was going on at the farmhouse but she could hear the sounds of battle.<p>

"Everybody out," she said, taking her little Remington out of her pocket. "This way. Stay quiet."

She lifted the escape hatch built into the floor and directed the other children through. Then she went down, closing the hatch behind her.

Above, in the classroom, she could hear zombies moving around. And then, as the children huddled together in the crawlspace, one zombie walked right past. Then he turned and walked back. Looking for them. They could only see his feet but he looked like a big one.

_The little ones are breathing too loud,_ Alice thought. _They're going to find us._

The tower with the warning bell was not far away. She turned to the oldest student, Maki.

"I'm going for the bell," she whispered. "They'll follow me. You take the others to the Kiramo farm over the hill. Run all the way and don't look back." She hesitated. Then she handed Maki the pistol. She flipped the safety off. "Take this," she said. "Just in case. If it comes to it, aim for the head. Double tap to be sure."

She watched the zombie's feet until he was as far away as possible. Then she wriggled out of the crawlspace and made a break for the bell. "Hey!" she shouted to the zombie. "Over here!"

The zombie started after her, and the other two came bursting out of the schoolhouse.

She made it to the belltower. She grasped the rope and pulled it, once, twice. The bell clanged. Then she started running, down the hill, away from the farmhouse.

She glanced back. The three zombies were coming after her. They were fast. And big. And gaining.

_What's that sound?_ she thought. _Like thunder._

* * *

><p>Saeko was in the middle, taking out one after the other. Rei and Takashi were standing back to back, firing and firing and covering each other when one of them stopped to reload. Saya was standing on the steps, taking careful aim at the zombies as they ran up the hill, with Hirano next to her, shooting at any zombie that he could hit.<p>

Saeko was knocked down by one of the zombies wielding an iron pole. Hirano ran to her, blasting his way. He helped her up – and then she whirled into the next group of zombies.

Tatagi saw one running towards him. He hefted the shotgun and fired, hitting the zombie in the chest. The zombie was knocked back by the blast – but in a moment continued his charge. Then its skull suddenly exploded. Rei.

"You need to shoot them in the head, sweetheart," she called. Then she turned back to her own fight. Grandfather Maresato and Grandmother Maresato appeared beside him. They each had shotguns, and they began shooting. "Some fun, eh?" said the old man. "But don't miss, son."

Saya saw one zombie run past them and towards the back of the farmhouse. _Nozomi,_ she thought. _My child._

She ran back through the house. Nozomi was standing in the kitchen, a little shaky on her toddler legs. Saya reached her just as the zombie burst through the back door. She pushed Nozomi behind her. She lifted the Luger and pulled the trigger. It was empty. And she had already used her back-up clips.

The zombie paused. It looked first at her, and then at Nozomi, and then at Saya again. It snarled, bearing its rotten teeth.

Saya picked up a frypan, the only thing in reach. It was not much of a weapon, she knew. She stared at the zombie. "You will not have her," she said. "_You … will … not._"

"Hey, asshole," said a voice from behind the zombie. It turned – and then an axe smashed into its temple. It sagged to the floor.

"Hi," said Miss Marikawa. Alice, standing next to her, simply smiled. "So once again I've rescued you from certain death in the final moment, Saya," said Miss Marikawa.

"No, actually I think this is the first time," said Saya.

"I can't remember any others," added Alice. The three of them looked at each other. Then they laughed.

"Oh, there's still a fight going on," said Saya. She scooped up Nozomi and they ran into the back yard.

"I'm going to help the others," Miss Marikawa said. In a second she was up on her horse and riding towards the battle, pulling a rifle from a saddle holster.

When the horse charged into their midst, Miss Marikawa alternating between shooting her rifle and using it as a club, the zombie attack broke. The last one went down to Saeko's sword. It was over.

"An advance scouting party?" said Rei. "Seemed a bit big for that."

"More likely a sudden attack group," said Takashi. "Or maybe they just wanted it more than the others. Miss Marikawa, thanks for the last-minute swoop."

"And she picked me up like a sack of potatoes when there were three of them after me," said Alice. "One moment I'm running along, minding my own business, and next I'm on the back of a horse. All the other kids got away, Saya, they're at the Kiramo farm."

"Er, does this sort of thing happen often?" said Tatagi.

"Often enough," said Saeko.

"Got a bit worried when you went down for a second there," said Takashi to her.

"On my own, it is only possible to defeat nine at any given time," she said.

"How do you know that?" said Tatagi.

The others looked at him. Hirano gave a little laugh.

"And what happens if you face ten?" said Tatagi.

"Then I lose," said Saeko. "If I am fighting alone."

"Where is Rise?" said Takashi.

"Having his afternoon nap," said Saeko.

"No he isn't," said Grandmother Maresato. She came out of the house, carrying the baby boy, who appeared to have just woken. "He slept through the whole thing. And I think he wants a feed now."

Saeko handed her sword to Takashi and took Rise. She sat down on one of the chairs on the porch, opened her shirt, and began to feed her son.

"By the way," said Saya to Tatagi, " 'hmm' means that we are going to stand and fight. No matter what."

"But there are thousands of them," he said. "Tens of thousands. More."

"No matter what," said Saya.

* * *

><p>"You know, the way that they're coming along this road to Sheroda might work for us," said Takashi, looking at the map. "Here, the town has a natural choke point, a cliff on one side and the river on other. And the town itself will make it hard for them. They'll have to bunch up and slow down. Their numbers won't count for as much. We've seen them retreat before. If we can take out a lot of them, make it too expensive for them, maybe that will be enough."<p>

"I can't believe you're talking about fighting them," said Tatagi. "There are too many."

"If we run," said Saeko, "they will follow us. Wherever we go."

"And they'll tear down everything that we've built, brick by brick," said Hirano. "You saw the photos of what they left behind. Not much."

"And I also saw the photos of the size of the army. You should be starting to evacuate people, not drawing up a plan for a suicide stand."

"Grandfather and Grandmother Maresato are already driving around to the nearby farms and houses and spreading the word," said Saya. "Telling everyone to get to Kaga Base. And then they will go themselves."

"What about those people further away?"

"That's your job," said Takashi. "You have to get back to Arimake and tell her about the situation, and then get to as many of the outlying people as you can."

"We would appreciate it," said Saya, "if you could take Nozomi and Rise with you to Kaga Base in the plane. Take them to Arimake. She will keep them as safe as possible."

"And Alice?"

"Staying," said Alice. She looked around the circle of her friends. "But I will need another gun."

"I may be able to help you with that," said Hirano.

Takashi gave a little laugh. "Okay," he said. "You know, Alice, you've been nothing but trouble ever since that first night I met you. When you peed down my back."

"Yes, nothing but trouble," said Alice.

Tatagi looked at Rei. "Rei, will you come with me?" he said.

She shook her head sadly. "Ben, you know I love you," she said. "But my place is here. To make our stand. And to give you as much time as possible for the evacuation. And to die with my friends, if it comes to that. But let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"Yes," said Saeko. "Let's hope."

Rei was fiddling with the top button of her shirt. "Saya, Saeko, how long will it take you to get Nozomi and Rise ready to go?" she said.

"Ten, fifteen minutes," said Saya.

"No," said Saeko. "Thirty minutes, at least."

"What?" said Saya. She looked at Saeko, and then at Rei. "Oh, right, yeah, thirty minutes at least. More like forty, really."

"At least," said Saeko.

Rei looked at them. She smiled. "Right," she said. She took Tatagi by the hand and led him to her room, peeling off her clothes as she went.

Takashi smiled as he watched them go. "After we have seen the children off, we should try and get some rest. But we should post a guard watch," he said.

"Rest is important," said Saeko, "but I would very much like to have sex as well. Very much."

"Me too," said Saya. "Really, really good sex."

"Great!" said Hirano to her. "Uh, you mean with me, right?"

She looked at him with a mixture of exasperation and affection.

"You are such a dork, otaku," she said.

"But that's why you love me, right?"

She considered. "Maybe," she said.

Miss Marikawa laughed. "So this is the way the world ends, not with a whimper but with a bang," she said. "Well, looks like it will be Alice and me for the first watch."

* * *

><p>Saya rolled off the bed and began to pull her clothes back on. "I didn't much like having to send Nozomi off but she'll be safer there than here," she said.<p>

Hirano, already dressed, nodded. He reached under the bed and slid a large crate out, and threw the lid open.

It was full of guns. A lot of guns. Big guns. And something else: bricks of something that looked like modelling clay.

"C4, America's best invention after pizza," he said.

"Where did you get all this stuff?" said Saya.

"Salvaged most of the guns. Got the C4 from the supply guy at Kaga Base. Traded him a cow and two chickens for it."

"So for months I've been sleeping with a trunkful of plastic explosive under the bed? You didn't think to mention this?"

"Don't worry, it's reasonably safe. It needs an electronic detonator, which is this thing here. It came with the package. Radio control and everything."

"Humph," said Saya.

Hirano was dragging the crate out of the caravan and towards the car.

"I don't think the Americans invented pizza!" she called after him. "And what the hell does 'reasonably safe' mean!"

* * *

><p>The seven of them were standing at the northern end of Sheroda village. Yes, the village was a good place for defence: rolling hills that turned into a cliff on one side, a fast-flowing river on the other, and the main road narrowed as it went through the village itself.<p>

Hirano was still taking guns out of the back of the convertible. He heaved out a particularly big gun and a massive box of bullets.

"This beauty is a chain gun," he said. "Found it on top of an abandoned tank. Heavy mother, and the main problem is that it goes through the bullets really fast, so it won't last long. But it's guaranteed to kill almost anything, even if it's already dead."

"Hey, what's this?" said Rei.

"That," said Hirano, "is a rocket-propelled grenade, known in the trade as an RPG. You just put it on your shoulder and pull that little trigger. It'll make a pretty big bang. But I only have one of them."

"I like it," said Rei.

"It's yours," said Hirano.

They continued to select weapons from Hirano's collection. Except Saeko, who had her two swords and needed nothing else.

They made their plans and their preparations, checking positions and confirming escape routes. Suddenly, there was nothing left to do but wait.

Takashi went up to Miss Marikawa. "I never thanked you for saving Saeko," he said.

"It was a pleasure," she said. "Except the puking part, of course."

Takashi laughed. "Something I've always wondered about," he said. "Are … they … you know, real?"

"Every bouncy ounce is pure woman," she said.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," he said.

He turned to Hirano, who was holding his chain gun at the ready. He had two other weapons slung across his shoulders, and his pockets bulged with ammunition and other equipment. "Hey, save some of them for the rest of us," he said.

"No promises," said Hirano. They knocked knuckles.

Rei was next. "You have always been the wisest of us," he said. "You have been our rock."

Rei grasped him by the shirtfront, pulled him to her, and kissed him. It was a long, hard, passionate kiss.

"Whoa," muttered Saya to Saeko, next to her.

"I'm cool with it," said Saeko.

Rei finally released Takashi and stepped back. Takashi turned to Saya.

"If you think I'm going to do that, forget it," said Saya.

Takashi smiled. "I would hardly expect it," he said. "Saya, we couldn't have got this far without you. You really are a genius."

"I know," she said.

Alice came up to him. "Voting for you as leader was the best thing I ever did," she said.

He ruffled her hair. "And I never forgave you for it," he said. "Take care of yourself, sweetheart."

Saeko. She and Takashi looked at each other for a long time. They were silent. There was nothing more they could say. Not now. Not here.

Takashi walked away from them, down the road a little way.

"Well, all that was odd," said Miss Marikawa.

"Haven't you ever heard a man say goodbye before?" said Rei.

"Oh," said Miss Marikawa.

"Saya," said Hirano, "if we live through this, do you know what we should do? Get married."

"Hmm," said Saya. "Maybe. I'll think about it. You probably shouldn't hold your breath, though. I'm really just in it for the sex."

Then the ground under their feet began to tremble.

The column came into sight.

"My god," said Saya. "My fucking fucking god."

"All of them," said Rei. "Every goddamn zombie in Japan."

"Then the upside," said Hirano, "is that if we kill them all, we get our country back."

Saeko adjusted the swords at her belt.

The lead pack of zombies broke into a run. They began to snarl, and growl, and roar.

Hirano hefted his big gun. "_Let's rock!_" he shouted. The gun began to spout flame. Smoking cartridges spiralled through the air. The others chimed in.

The first line of zombies went down, chewed to pieces. So did the second. But the zombies kept coming, howling for blood now.

The chain gun clicked on empty.

"Second stage!" shouted Takashi.

Rei and Saya went to the right flank near the cliff, Takashi to the left near the river. Alice, sniper rifle in hand and carrying a satchel of grenades, went for the highest roof in the village. Miss Marikawa mounted her horse and wheeled it into a narrow lane behind the first row of shops.

Saeko simply vanished.

Hirano dropped the chain gun and pulled up his next weapon. He backed up, firing as he went. The zombies split into groups.

Takashi ran into a garage at the end of an alley. His convertible was there. "Dammit, I really liked this car," he muttered to himself.

A crowd of zombies came racing down the alley.

The car already had the accelerator braced with a bar and the steering wheel tied into position. Takashi turned it on and released the brake. The car roared away from him and down the alley. It ploughed into the zombies, smashing then down. Then it crashed into the next group, and then the next. And then the grenades and the cans of petrol went up.

* * *

><p>Saya ran down a side-street, Luger drawn, a hundred-strong troop of zombies in pursuit. She stopped and turned. She lifted the gun, aimed carefully, and took out the first rank. Then she ran again, leading the zombies up the street and towards the edge of the village.<p>

She turned into a little open area. Rei was there, kneeling with the RPG on her shoulder. Saya ran past her.

The zombies came around the corner. Rei aimed. The lead zombie, a big one, gave a hideous howl.

Then Rei jerked the RPG upwards and fired. The rocket streaked over the heads of the zombies.

The big zombie looked at her. Its decayed lips curled into an evil smile, as if it was saying: _you missed_.

"I didn't miss," said Rei.

The rocket smashed into the face of the cliff and exploded. With a rumble, rocks began to fall. Then the whole cliff-face began to come down, burying the zombies under tons of rock.

Rei threw the RPG frame aside. She and Saya ran, hoping to stay ahead of the rolling boulders.

* * *

><p>Alice was shooting and throwing grenades as fast as she could, trying to hold back the tide. She saw a group of zombies running up the lane which led to a ladder to the roof. It was too far for grenades – but then she saw Miss Marikawa riding along the lane directly for them, shooting with one hand and swinging a club with the other.<p>

* * *

><p>A group of zombies smashed their way into a large, empty building, looking for a way through. There was a woman standing before them.<p>

Saeko took a quick count. Nine.

She smiled.

* * *

><p>Hirano emptied the weapon; the zombies were almost on him. He turned and ran, pulling out the detonator. There was a series of buttons. He pushed the first one, and the buildings on either side of the street went up. The wave of zombies went up with them.<p>

The shockwave of the blast knocked him down but he was up again in a moment. He reloaded, and prepared for the next assault.

The zombies were flooding into the village now. The group of humans fell back and met at the little park in the middle of the town, as they had planned. Miss Marikawa ran up. "They knocked me off Buttercup," she said. "I got them all but I couldn't get back to her."

"You went to war on a horse called Buttercup?" said Saya.

"What's wrong with Buttercup?" said Miss Marikawa.

"Er, nothing, nothing," said Takashi. "Hirano, where are the next set of charges?"

"In those buildings, just at the entry to the park. It would be good if we can get them to bunch up, so we can take out as many as we can."

"Do they have to come this way?" said Takashi. "Is the right flank covered?"

"They'll be able to get through eventually but they're certainly slowed down there," said Rei.

"Then concentrate your fire on that street," Takashi directed.

They fired. And fired. And fired.

The zombies were climbing over bodies. Wave after wave went down.

"Hirano, now!" said Takashi.

Second button.

The blasts took out hundreds of them. The wave behind began to hesitate and fall back.

It was a small victory but it had come at a tactical cost. A group of zombies had got behind them, and were blocking their retreat. They had clubs and bars.

Saeko drew her already-bloody swords. She counted.

_Damn_, she thought. _Ten_.

But she charged into them, slashing left and right. One down, two, three. "Go past!" she shouted to her friends.

Four, five. In her mind's eye, she could see how the next four would fall. But the ninth would leave her out of position, unable to strike at the tenth.

She saw Takashi and the others get to the relative safety of the street on the either side of the park.

The temple sword sliced into the neck of the eighth and the Hokusawa blade impaled the head of the ninth. But now her back was to the last one. From the corner of her eye, she saw him raise a massive iron bar.

Then someone leaped onto his back. Rei. The zombie howled, trying to fling her off. But then she had her pistol at his temple. She fired as he swung her into a tree.

Saeko helped her up. Rei's shoulder looked broken.

"Thank you," said Saeko.

"Couldn't let you do all the hand-to-hand heroics, could I?" said Rei, grimacing in pain.

Their last redoubt was the southern end of the town, where a brace of abandoned cars offered some cover. The seven of them made for it, firing as they went.

A trio of zombies broke from the pack and made for Saya, trailing behind the others as she reloaded. She turned and fired her Luger. One down. Then the second. The third, carrying a club, took a bullet in the neck but knocked her to the ground. It raised the club.

Hirano came running forward. His gun was out of bullets and there was no time to unsling the second. He threw the empty gun aside and drew his machete. He swung, but the zombie dodged and struck out with the club, catching Hirano on the hip. He staggered back, dropping the machete. He fell.

Saya rolled, snatched up the machete, and stabbed the zombie in the foot. It howled. She struggled to her knees and thrust upwards. The blade sliced into the zombie's neck. It fell back, dead, the machete still in its throat.

She ran to Hirano. "What would you do without me?" he said to her, with a groan.

"Technically, I think I saved you," she said. "But I suppose we can call it even." She tried to drag him to the others but she was not strong enough to move him. "Takashi!" she shouted. "Help!"

Takashi ran to them, shooting to keep the zombies back. He reached them and hoisted Hirano up. Hirano cried out in pain. Takashi handed his shotgun to Saya, and she fired while they scrambled to the cars.

They made it but the group was in bad shape. Rei with a broken shoulder, Hirano hardly able to move his legs, all of them near exhaustion and running low on ammunition. And the zombies were readying another attack.

"The last set of charges is on the petrol station," said Hirano. "That should give them a very nasty surprise. Here, Saya, you take the detonator … oh no – "

"Oh no what?" said Saya.

"It must have come out of my pocket when that one hit me," he said. He managed to raise himself into a sitting position and looked back. "There it is, over there!"

A wave of zombies was coming forward, roaring, past the petrol station.

Alice ran forward towards the detonator. But two zombies were coming that way as well. As she neared the detonator, one made a grab for her. She dived, sliding through his legs. The other raised a club to hit her – and then fell back with a bullet from Miss Marikawa's rifle in his head.

Alice reached the detonator, still sliding on the gravel. She scooped it up, and pushed the button.

The petrol station went up in a massive gout of flame, incinerating a hundred zombies in a second. And another hundred a few moments later.

The zombie near Alice went down, courtesy of Miss Marikawa, and Alice ran back to the others.

"Outstanding," said Saeko to her as she threw herself down next to them.

"That will hold them, but not for long," said Takashi. He took a clip out of his pocket and rammed it into his gun. It was his last one.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," said Saya.

"Not me," said Miss Marikawa, digging tablets out of her pocket and giving them to Rei and Hirano.

Saeko was carefully wiping blood from her swords.

"I can shoot with my left hand," said Rei. "I think."

"Prop me up and tie a gun to my arm," said Hirano. "A big one would be nice."

Alice checked her sniper rifle. "Fuck 'em all," she said.

"Well, you're all going to have your chance," said Takashi.

Then a shadow passed over them, and a burst of machine-gun fire from above.

It was Tatagi's plane. He was firing out the window, and then he threw a string of grenades. The plane flew the length of the town, and then turned and came back, swooping low.

From within the throng of zombies there was a volley of gunshots. The little plane seemed to stagger for a moment in mid-air, and then smoke started to come from the engine. It stuttered, stopped and then started again. It flew off in the direction of the Maresato farm, wobbling through the air.

"Hope he makes it down safely," said Saya.

"He's a good pilot," said Rei.

"And a brave man," said Hirano.

"He just couldn't take out enough of them," said Takashi. "Get ready. This will be it, I think."

Then the ground began to shake again. But this was not the sound of thousands of zombie feet. This was the drumming of heavy engines.

An Armoured Personnel Carrier came careening around the corner behind them. Major Arimake was in the turret, behind a heavy machine gun. She saluted them as she roared past. Behind her was another APC, and then another, and then another, and they were all packed with soldiers from Kaga Base.

At the same time, over the hill on the other side of the village came a line of trucks and cars. From the vehicles spilled a wave of people, mainly civilians. Most of them had guns but some had only axes and clubs. They ran down the slope and smashed into the flank of the zombie army.

The APCs ploughed into the front of the mass, firing as they went. Zombies fell in waves. But there were many, many more.

Takashi, Saeko, Saya, Alice and Miss Marikawa came out from behind the cars. _It's everyone,_ thought Takashi. _But is it enough? Will it be enough?_

From the zombie formation, a shot rang out.

Takashi staggered backwards. He fell, blood spreading over his chest.

Immediately, Miss Marikawa was by his side, trying to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. Saeko knelt down. She looked at Miss Marikawa.

Miss Marikawa shook her head.

He reached out for Saeko's hand. She took it. He looked up at her and did his best to smile. "Always, my love," he said. Then his eyes closed.

Takashi Komuro was dead.

Saeko stood up. She turned towards the battle, a hundred metres away. The war was balanced on the scales. She drew her swords.

Over her shoulder, she said to Rei: "Look after Rise."

"I will," said Rei.

She stared up at the sky for a long moment. Then she gave a cry of primal savagery and charged into the fray.

Miss Marikawa looked at Saya and Alice. "Well," she said, "what are we waiting for!"

They drew their guns and ran after Saeko.

* * *

><p><strong>Z+1277<strong>

In the soft light of early dusk, Hirano and Saya walked slowly up the hill. Hirano still limped, and used a cane for assistance. They reached the two grave markers at the top.

"You know," said Saya, "this is where she first told me that a storm was coming. I remember that I had my old Luger. It's because of the two of them, I think, that I don't have to carry it now."

Hirano nodded. "It's nice up here," he said. "A nice view for them."

They looked back towards the farmhouse. In the front yard, Nozomi and Rise were laughing and running around as toddlers do, Alice and Zeke chasing them. Rei and Tatagi were trying to keep some sort of order in the game, but obviously they knew it was just part of the fun. As Saya and Hirano watched, Miss Marikawa and her partner came out of the house, carrying plates of food for the picnic meal. Grandfather and Grandmother Maresato sat in porch chairs, pleased to see the people that they loved enjoying themselves.

Hirano took his wife's hand. "Some things are worth fighting for," he said. "Some things are worth dying for."

"Yes," said Saya. "Some things are."

END AND AMEN


End file.
